The Johnson Family Journey

Valentine overload

2012-02-14T20:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I love holidays and we love celebrating. Therefore, a day when we can love all over our kiddos more than normal is right up our alley! We started the day with wheat pancakes with Valentine M&Ms dipped in homemade yogurt. I feel I sort of negated the candy, by making them whole wheat with Mommy made yogurt...possibly? Then the sharing on cards, candies, stickers,bubbles, bikes, etc began. The boys do not know what a present is, just what a "surprise" is. So we opened and shared many surprises today! As you can see friends and family from near and far spoiled the boys plum rotten! At this point they might not understand this was not Christmas all over again, because it started to seem that way. Then, as they typical Johnson gang must....we had speech and OT therapy..not really holiday fun, but necessary. Then off to a little get together with other Christian Mommas to have the kids decorate Valentine bags, exchange Valentine surprises and share lunch. A great day for the kiddos, followed by a fabulous snow storm. The boys and I played in snow and for the first time I heard them shout the word "snow". The day wrapped up with friends, gifts for Mommy, Skyping daddy, a great dinner, a bubble bath dyed pink and snuggling over several books. Now I can sit in peace and sip wine in our new wine glasses with our monogram etched into them, a love gift for Mommy and Daddy!I love my little Valentines! Super hard to spend yet another holiday with out a husband and Dady, but longing for his return more than ever.

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching

2012-02-08T19:46:00.000-08:00

A bunch of our fellow church Mamas wanted to get our toddlers together for a Valentine making get together and lunch and I volunteeried to host. We ended up with many families and ht at a dozen toddlers at our home. So yhe craft part kind of becamse pure cahos but the play time and lunch went off with plenty of joy! I couldnt help but share video jumoing with his little Valente Eleanor,a nd of course sharing some Valentine hugs and love! However, since we didn't accomplish any cards of value at the party, we spent time together making some the following day. Of course they didnt want to use the heart style supplies I bought, so I compromised and they are now "trucks" valentines. We are participatig in another Valentine party with a different group of friends and are exchanging cards there. So the boys will have cute ones to trade with pride. Lastly, for now at least, the boys and I made Valentine cookies. Well I made the cookies and the boys were in charge of smearing the icing and putting on sprinkles. I would put a dab of ciicng in the center for them to smear around. Well, to no surprise that meant Taft licking the icing in order to smear it around. Zeke, on the other hand was devouring sprinkles left and right. So the cookies are not excatly hygenic, but they turned out preciuous and we had a blast makign them! I love seasonal fun with 2 adorable toddlers!

Letter recognition

2012-02-08T14:52:00.000-08:00

I admit the videography is quite pathetic..I keep bumping the table and I can't the letters out of the box fast enough and then get all mixed up on which ones I have shown him and which ones I have not...BUT with that being said.....I present to you Zeke, master of all letters, both Upper and lowercase!!!!

Birthday Videos

2012-02-07T13:26:00.000-08:00

We had so many family and friends who were not able to attend the boys birthday so I had to share a few videos so you can be part of the joy of their special time.

Birthday Party

2012-02-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Our precious little men celebrated 2 with a giant birthday party at the Children's museum. They enjoyed exploring and adventure with what many would consider way too many guests, but hey there is 2 of them, so they need twice the buddies, right? I have attached pictures that Francine/Jessica provided, because go figure..Mommy remembered everything except new batteries for the camera. Great food, great friends, great venue...nothing beats that when you are 2!

Part of their birthday weekend included our first ever slumber party. Our first ever Ethiopian adoptive family friends traveled to our town for the weekend to celebrate with us and stayed at our home for the weekend. The 4 toddlers loved playing together and we had a real blast all together. Between staying up chatting over several bottles of wine, potty training with 4 tots, many meals(oops I forgot Gabe was Gluten-free, so that was a challenge), Ethiopian restaurant and many good laughs, we really had an adventure!

"Twins"

2012-01-27T19:33:00.000-08:00

You know your kiddos were destined to be "twins" when on the exact same day they fall, at 2 different time, and get the EXACT SAME SCAB!!!! They both popped the area between your nose and lip and it formed a little scab. how bizarre is that?

If I had a dollar for the amount of times people comment on the fact that it looks like Taft has eyeliner on, I could buy everyone in my family a Starbucks. I assume all these strangers do not really believe he has eyeliner on, but it sure does look like it. Gorgeous eyes my babe has!

Last week we had the EMG/NCV done on Taft. The results were a blessing and a curse....He does not have Muscular Dystrophy or Multiple Sclerosis Praise God! The commented that his muscle bulk and strength for very defined and strong for his age! That's right, my little linebacker already! However, they believe maybe there is a part in his brain not cooperating with his muscles. His cognitive evaluations are always right on track, just his gross motor is still a bit behind. Therefore, we are now scheduled for an MRI/brain scan, blood work, and liver function test, along with a follow-up with his regular Neurologist. Hoping this will be our last major hospital visit, before we have a Daddy back in town. I have gotten way too familiar with each hospital in the Tucson area and used and abused friends who are willing to care for Zeke while I focus on Taft.

One of Taft's therapist really brought it back home the other day when we were discussing medical conditions, test, diagnosis, etc. She said "What if this is how God made him", "Look at the faith growth in your family because of these struggles"! Yes, yes you are right! Our God is great, powerful and the Almighty Healer. I witness my little man praying daily, getting excited over bible stories, and dancing and singing at kid's church warms my heart. If my kiddo never runs up and down flights of stairs, but commits his life to Christ and service I will be the most BLESSED Mommy on Earth!

Christmas and New Years

2012-01-17T18:50:00.000-08:00

...and no Zeke did not really ahve a sip of that margarita!

Christmas Gifts

2012-01-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help but share with our friends and family a few videos of the boys opening gifts and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas! They didn't get the concept of gifts this year unfortunately. Therefore, they periodically opened a gift here and there instead of sitting down and going crazy all at once. At one point when the entire family was opening gifts we found Taft in the hallway with an old dump truck of Memaw's! He just wanted to play, regardless of how old the toys are!

****Take note of Zeke gasping as he opens each gift. He noticed the adults doing that and picked up on it too!

Avery

2012-01-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

While in Texas the boys adored Avery, my parent's lab. After playing with her, and then hearing stories of therapy dogs helping kiddos with issues similar to Taft's I think we might be slightly conidering a dog come summer. After you see this video you will be voting "yes" to a dog for these two. They LOVE Avery!

Jump House

2012-01-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

While in TX we went to the Emerald Rainbow inflatable jump house on 3 different occasions. My parents are fabulous hosts providing 2 cribs, 2 high chairs, 2 car seats, and about one million toys, BUT the rest of their home isn't exactly child proofed. So early every morning the boys would go nuts "playing" with breakable Christmas decor or running out of the bathroom with a spray bottle of 409, so we decided to escape on early mornings and let the kids burn mass quantities of energy bouncing. One trip it was the 4 kiddos and me, the next the boys with Ashley and I, and lastly Ryan, Ashley, and the boys(to help while I was booted due to the fractured foot). Each time was a true adventure, but we all had a blast. Te boys even crashed one time before we made it out of the parking lot, they were so exhausted!

Advent Calendar

2012-01-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Taft was obsessed, and I mean obsessed with this chocolate calendar I got at Trader Joe's. We had a couple of daily activities for the month of December each day leading up until Christmas, so I thought it would be fun to end our traditions each evening with a shared candy from the calendar. Boy was I wrong! I found Taft hiding under the Christmas tree on several occasions desperate to get into the calendar, found him stuffing his mouth, and then found his hysterical because he wanted candy! I had no idea he would get so worked up over the candy. That was just supposed to be the little reward after our daily time learning about Jesus! Maybe next year there will be more Jesus and less candy when you see his bizarro behavior!

23 & me

2012-01-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

BEST GIFT EVER! Tyler gave our family 23&me gene testing for Christmas. Mine has been sent off to a lab for analysis. Now I must wait the 6-8 time period for results to be returned. I am dying to find out more about my history, health, family, body, make-up, etc! What a real gift of life!

2nd best gift ever.....Half spa day at the new JW Marriot Gold Resort in Texas. He arranged for Memaw to watch the kids while I was pampered beyond belief in spas, aromatherapy rooms, stone massage, facial, mud wrap, etc! I read how that hotel is one of the 50 best in the World as well as their Spa is in the top 50 too! I definitely felt like #1 in the world! Never been pampered in luxury of that quality and what a neat surprise, totally out of the blue from adoring Tyler! 1.5 years ago..Kelly and I were paying $4 for a couple's massage in a little hut in Ethiopia! Totally different atmosphere, but I wouldn't call the hut "Luxury"!

Kiddie Park

2012-01-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Memaw and I took the boys to the Kiddie Park of San Antonio. Yes, the same old nasty park that even my grandparents went to as children, its over 80 years old! The boys had a blast! All the rides are for tots, literally no parents can ride with the kids, except the spinning orbits. Little awkward to toss my kid on a ride and say "Bye", but they loved the independence. We all had a blast, minus the orbits that made mom and I sick, the spinning was way too quick! The boys realized they could sit on the same side of the boats and tip it, dragging their hand in disgusting water, surprise surprise! The Ferris wheel goes super high, with no adult in the cage! But, Zeke screamed the entire 10 revolutions or so...why? The ride director made him share a seat with Taft! Poor thing, who could ever expect you to share a set with your "twin brother"! Next time we are in SA, we are heading there again! What a blast from the past, and a real barrel of monkeys!

Starbucks

2012-01-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

Zeke starts chanting "Starbucks" at every drive thru, specifically today it was CVS. This kid is starting young...well for Starbucks yes...but he only gets organic milk, so he has no idea what he is really missing!

Holiday crafts

2012-01-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

Had a blast recently making great crafts with my boys and my girls (our nieces)!

Shh...Don't tell Daddy!

2011-12-07T20:06:00.000-08:00

The boys love to play "Mee-Mup", aka Make-Up Time with brushes and pretending to dip them in colors for their face. One time Taft even got it went accidentally and then smeared it on his face. Powder + Water= Paste. He had to wear a hat to church that morning to cover up the white stripe I couldn't get off his forehead!

Every boy's dream!

2011-12-07T19:17:00.000-08:00

Thank you Daddy and Pepaw for our indoor swing. There isn't many things in lie more creative an enjoyable!

A tast of our food life

2011-12-07T19:07:00.000-08:00

Howdy Gang! You all know we have major feeding issues and I couldn't help but to film some of our chaos. The other day I offered 17different fresh and prepared foods and neither kid would take a single bite...seriously??? But then Zeke impressed me with his creative balancing act skills, and Taft went broccoli nuts the following day! A few days after this video Zeke successfully ate a large quantity...of what you ask: 2 dishes of his request that he actually FINISHED!
1. Homemade Greek yogurt with chunks of peaches in it, cover in, and I mean full blown SMOTHERING of Parmesan cheese, funky tasting goat milk cheese at that!
2. A bowl of peas drowned in Agave nectar syrup.
Seriously Zeke...I wish they still had that show Double Dare, he would totally win!

Our recent life in photos!

2011-12-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

A few noteworthy photos:
The boys in their matching shirts with Daddy.
The new "library" in the boys room.
Great Zoo trip included feeding the giraffes.
Mom riding in the trunk of the car.
WE FINALLY had our silhouettes cut and framed! Tyler and I have wanted that done since high school and were able to have them done recently. The artist took less than 30 seconds for each silhouette to be hand cut, that is true ART!
Zeke has a little girlfriend.
Mommy rocked the Thanksgiving day cross country, and post race can still press a 28 pound kiddo over and over...woohoo. First real race with water jumps, mud, etc!
Taft is rocking his styling little leg braces...could they be any cuter?

The Johnsons have gone crafty!

2011-12-01T14:51:00.000-08:00

Recently we have done a couple of things I am LOVING!!!!

Jesse Advent Tree:
A group of women at church all selected one symbol from creation to the birth of Christ to make as ornaments. There is a book that goes along with the series, and I selected to make 25 scrolls and 25 sets of the 10 commandments to trade with 25 other women so I now have 2 complete sets of 25 ornaments. Today was the first day and we read and talked about the story of how God created the world, and the boys each hung the globe ornament someone at church designed. I am thrilled to be able to share Bible stories leading up to celebrating our Christ with the boys! I will post a photo of the scroll and commandments I made. After 25 of each, I am pretty proud of those little guys.

Toddler Games:
A MOPS group decided to each make a little game type activity that fits into a gallon sized Ziploc and can be taken on the road. We each made 10 and then traded so we ended up with 10 different games. Once again I have 2 boys, so I chose to make 2 activities so I can then have double to trade and bring home. I made the past sorting by color, size and texture as well as the identifying shades of one color activity. We can home with 8 other fabulous activities, for moments like sitting in a doctor's office for an hour with nothing to do. Now I will be the prepared Mommy with educational down time activities!

Cake Pops:
We have tried to make these little boogers too many times. Alli and Randa will vouch for the fact that one set of our looked and tasted like melted Reindeer poop, not the adorable pops in the photo.Therefore, one of my crafty friends invited a couple ladies over for a little "how to" while the kiddos played. I was still the worst decorator of the group, but I think my little turkey was pretty cute. I need to stick to flavor and not appearance. My baked goodies are always killer in taste, but don't ever win prizes for being picture worthy!

We are still alive!

2011-12-01T14:14:00.000-08:00

My goodness gracious what long time since I have been able to post. Life just hit fast forward for 2 weeks and then I was so far behind I didn't want to post anything because there was just way too much to say. So I am going to hit on the highlights of what has been going on, of course all the typical therapies, dates, groups, lessons, etc, but in addition the following craziness:
1. Daddy came home for 17 days and we were in HEAVEN, literally. The boys recognized and only a day or so in were back to their typical daddy-loving selves!
2. We went to Disney and had a blast!(well all but Zeke who was afraid of it all)
3. We have been to several fabulous birthday parties.
4. The bathroom is COMPLETED!!! Custom cabinet in, water running, paint, dry...loving not sharing with the boys!
5. Taft had a Neurology appt...they found nothing wrong, and think he is just dev behind from orphanage life. Considering testing for trisomies if there isn't a giant jump in next 4-6 months.
6. Taft has been super sick, and several docs believe it to be allergies, so we are giving allergy meds a try.
7. Zeke got an ear infection that was so bad his fever almost hit 105 and the doc made us stay at the clinic until we could get it down, over 6 hours.
8. Both boys had blood work and chest x-rays because they just were not getting better.
9. Taft got his little orthotics in and is a miracle. They told us he would have to learn how to walk all over again, we strapped them on and he took off running..can we say determination?
10. We attended a picnic in PHX for adoptive families.
11. On the way to Phoenix we got a nail in the tire and had to purchase 2 new tires, but had to drive cautiously to 3 different stores looking for the Right tires in the middle of Tour de Tucson(aka thousands of cyclist all over town).
12. We went to a Thanksgiving for Ethiopian adoptive families in Phoenix.
13. I left my tithing check in my Operation Christmas Child box and had to go sort through boxes to find the blank check before it was wisked away to a 3rd world country!
14. Taft is now receiving speech therapy, Zeke placed out!
15. We ran as a family, My dad, My sister and me! in the Thanksgiving Cross country race here in Tucson.
16. My immediate family came to stay and play for the week of Thanksgiving.
17. We had a family date to the zoo.
18. Pepaw babysat all day, while my mother, sister and I went nuts on black Friday, as usual!
19. In place of getting a rental car, my mom volunteered to ride in the trunk of my car around town. Yes my little SUV had 4 adults and 2 baby seats!

Disney in Pictures

2011-12-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Handy Manny

2011-11-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

The boys officially know 2 Disney Characters...Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse(Which they call Toodles because he always says O'Toodles during the show). Disneyland has a little stage performance of Disney Junior where they could dance and sing with Manny and Toodles. We went 3 times to the show..yes 3 times, but look how excited they were.

Character Breakfast

2011-11-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

While at Disneyland we decided to make reservations for a character breakfast. Everyone had talked the character meals up and we figured it was a great way to meet several characters with out waiting in a line in the park itself. My boys could not have reacted differently. Taft was dancing to the music and high fiving characters while Zeke screamed bloody murder and cried at even the sight of a character. Tyler taught him to say "no, no, Bye-Bye" when he didn't want the character to come and visit. Later the next day Ty was watching football at the hotel and Zeke ran up to the TV yelling "No, No, Bye Bye". I realized there was a rum commercial that had a pirate on the bottle. Captain Hook was by far the scariest character for Zeke, so he was even mad at the commercial and the character silhouette on the bottle.

Pumpkin Eating/Carving

2011-10-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

God's gifts

2011-10-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

When we first felt called to change our dossier from one baby boy, to 2 baby boys we were hesitant and anxious. We knew this was God's will and we were faithful. Looking back...God is amazing and all knowing obviously, but I reassured of that daily in the interactions of my boys. God designed our family, and for the two of them to be brothers for life, from sharing a wood box "crib" in Ethiopia to now. Today alone I was shown this during these moments:

1. I am pulling the wagon home from visiting the Payne family and I have my back to the boys, but hear "tickle-tickle" over and over again from both kiddo. I turn around and witness that they are taking turns tickling each others feet and saying "tickle-tickle".

2. At the gym the teacher gave Zeke a little bag of goldfish to-go for the car and he took them and signed thank you. He took one step away and turned back and reach up saying "tut-tut" and signing please. He wanted a baggie for Taft too, who he calls "tut-tut".

3. In the stroller Zeke must have finished his drink and wanted more because he threw his cup down and started saying more. Therefore, the kind hearted Taft grabs his cup from the pocket and hands it to Zeke.

4. In the bath this evening I have a director for each boys washing moments. When I am washing Taft, Zeke stands over and directs me saying "bubbles" and pointing to the places that I have missed to make sure Taft is cleaned well. Then they switch roles.

5. Finally, after reading stories I asked them to give Mommy a kiss, and instead of kissing me they kept kissing each other over and over again and giggling.

I could never imagine their little lives with out the other.

God is so great and mighty to have designed our family!

Does Taft have a twin?

2011-10-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

Totally bizarre, but I saw this commercial and it shockingly reminds me of Taft! Well my goodness gracious I hope not the end segment of Cee Lo, but the Baby and Kiddo are seriously Taft's twin!

First Race for Mommy pushing the double jogger

2011-10-20T21:12:00.000-07:00

We completed our first race with Mommy and the double stroller. I was 1 of 2 crazy enough to attempt the race with the extra 125 pounds. The other double just so happened to be good friends of ours! I started thinking how much easier the run would have been if we didn't live in the mountains of Tucson with way too many hills to maneuver up with what seemed like a ton of bricks in the stroller. We finished in my goal time of 8-9 minutes per mile! I only tripped twice over items the boys threw over board and then Mommy ran right over. The boys loved the post race food, bands and roaming around old down town! Their favorite was a lollipop a vendor gave them, second one ever. After the slobbering mess and screaming fit when I took it away, it just might be their last for a while. I look forward to many more active events with my little guys! Go Team Johnson!

Lesson learned: Do not be the very last person to start the race! I thought I was being considerate of all the runners to get my huge BOB out of the way, but then quickly realized I then had to run past all the "walkers" who were at the end of the crowd. Weaving in and out of large crowds walking while you try and pass running on narrow down town city streets is a bad idea. Live and learn!

Here we come fall!

2011-10-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

Our To-Do List is our Done list

1. Halloween costumes(took 5 stores to get the right sizes)
2. Pumpkin patch
3. House decorated
4. Scarecrows up
5. First trick or treating experience with MOPS
6. First snow cone at the church picnic
7. Halloween cards made and sent
8. Halloween shirts that glow in the dark
9. Skeleton glow in the dark jammies
10. Halloween presents from Memaw and Pepaw opened and loved

Handy Manny

2011-10-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

In prep for our Disney Trip the boys watch 15 minutes of Disney here and there, and Taft has a serious fascination with the Handy Manny song! He doesn't just enjoy it he literally goes nuts!

Best gift idea I ever had!

2011-10-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

The boys and I made the best gift ever for Tyler! A pillow case that has the following embroidered in the center, with the boys hand and foot prints on either side of the wording:

Daddy lays his heads here, when we are apart he can feel us near!

Experiment

2011-10-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

I have let the boys watch 10 minutes of Disney shows a few days each week for a week or so in preparation for our Disney trip. I am trying to teach them a few of the characters, simply so they are not afraid and have some sort of connection going into it. Until 2 weeks ago I was the ANTI-TV mommy, but for just a few weeks before Disney I am easing up a TINY bit. I tested T-bone..would you rather watch Handy Manny or would you rather have a snack? Go figure..I know that boy too well, of course the winner was....drum roll please....

Zeke asleep?

2011-10-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

Just when I thought after an hour of quiet Zeke was fast asleep.....Nope!

Air Force Academy

2011-10-07T21:19:00.000-07:00

Tyler and two other AFA grads, his buddy from Gardez and a visiting General, celebrate the Air Force Academy win over the Naval Academy!

Dove Newsletter

2011-10-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

We got a newsletter from Dove today and I just now realized for months there has been something all too familiar about the agency letterhead. Do you see what I see?

Woah Nelly

2011-09-28T19:33:00.001-07:00

I never really believed int he phrase when it rains it pours until the past 48 hours..... In the last 48 hours this has been our life...
1. The refrigerator broke! Everything was hot, so you should have seen me at 5:00 am running bags of groceries to neighbors and buying extra coolers at the hardware store for our necessities.
2. I fixed the refrigerator! My handy man dad walked me through the steps and 12 hours after the original panic we were already starting to fill it back up with the goodies. Yes I Nikki Johnson repaired the refrigerator on my own!
3. The fire alarms all started going off since they are interconnected. Eventually I realized it was a bad battery, but had to check them one by one to find the bad guy..grr!
4. The air condition was beeping like crazy, learned the filters needed changing..who knew it would go nuts to inform you of that!
5. We went to the Zoo on a Mommy playdate with our church and T-bone crawled under the bar into the giraffe cage. Of course there are multiple inner gates, but really buddy?
6. The general contractor is having trouble finding replacement cabinets similar to the ones we had in the bathroom, so NOTHING has been done since last week. Nothing, I still have no sink, no closet, no shower, no toilet. Yikes!
7. Our swim coach calls an hour before our next lesson and must have either been fired or quit. Because the message just explained she no longer works there and they will find us another coach. What?
8. Taft found a lotion bottle amongst the construction of the bathroom and opened it and ate some, results in a Poison control call, ended up nothing, but that is what the bottle said to do.
9. Wireless internet is broken, im not the web queen, but the satelite for our cell phone service runs through the roter as well. Therefore no internet no cell coverage.

Wow...wow...wow...I think God is thinking "high five Niki". You trusted me and found peace with me!!!!!

No God...please let us have a little reprieve from the Chaos!

HELP!

2011-09-25T20:00:00.000-07:00

Other Mamas I need your advice!!!
All you ladies out there who read this and never comment now is a chance I want you to speak up.
We are really having a giant battle of wills when it comes to Taft's medicine routine. He must take meds several times a day in large disgusting doses. They are liquid, but he will not willingly open his mouth. Singing, distractions, toys, Ipod playing, bribing with an M&M, everything has not worked! Nothing short of me holding him down with my entire weight and prying his mouth open is getting the medicine down. We are both in tears by the time the meds disappear down his throat, the Mommy praying. We have had this problem in the past, and just suffered until the med cycle was complete. But this issue is going to be for several months, so a solution is required!
How do you convince your toddler to take medication?
side note: His vitamins are liquid, and he willingly takes them????????

Results for Big Guy

2011-09-25T15:49:00.000-07:00

Let me start out saying SORRY for the multitude of people I did not call personally with the news, it is not very big news, and our crazy lifestyle has been very big lately, so I just didn't get to it. SORRY! and SORRY again!
Celiac..no!
Intestinal bacteria( the scary drug resistant type he talked about) overgrowth..no!
The doctor believes he simply had a giant over growth of good bacteria in his GI! The bacteria we need to break down food had a little party and made too many babies so that now instead of helping him to break down and digest they go nuts and ferment the food gassing up his tummy and making his look like e needs maternity toddler clothes. Strange! We are on a strict nasty cycle of 2 different antibiotics for a long while, and then probiotics to replant the good guys, just not too many of the good guys!
Thats that, no real life changing news! The nurse would beg to differ since I called several times a day all last week waiting for the results, but what the doc predicted was so bad stuff, and this answer isn't at all what we would consider bad!
God is good and so is Taft's blessed belly!

SSA

2011-09-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

In filling out forms to have the boys names changed on their Social Security Cards the SSA has a link to enter your name and see its ranking in Popularity for the past decade. Well I was tempted..and yes I entered all of our names out of curiosity.

Nikki:Most popular year in last decade it was #585/1000!
** Nikki's middle name was not in the top 1000 in the last decade!
Tyler:Most popular year in last decade it was #10/1000!
** Tyler's Middle name was also in the top 250 as well!
Taft: Never in the top 1000 names!
Ezekiel: Most popular year in last decade it was #213/1000!...Grrr too common!!!
**Totally obvious..but neither of the boys middle names/Ethiopian names have ever been in the top 1000!

I love stats! I love names! I love nap time when Mommy can waste precious time looking this up!

Water Water everywhere!

2011-09-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Saturday night I could have sworn I heard something scurrying up in the attic, but of course I hear creepy noises with husband across the world and a sick baby all night. I washed my hands and saw water all over the sink. I assume I splashed the water while washing my face or brushing my teeth. Taft gets sick again and I find myself once again in the bathroom noticing water all over the counter top. I notice tiny drips are coming from behind the mirror and pooling on the granite....how is that possible? Behind the mirror? I then notice a few bubble in the pain near the light fixture. I then stand on the counter and feel the walls...at 2 am mind you....they feel damp??? I start pushing and my hand sinks through the dry wall a little bit in one place..
PURE PANIC SETS IN!!!!!
I call my Dad and turn the water main for the entire house off! Yes, no bathroom, no shower no washing hands...no water!
We call the base plumber and leave messages for a referral, and continue our regular routine off to bible study, church, Sunday school, etc. I get a call back from the base plumber with a reference for a reputable civilian plumber since my explanation to him seems way out of his league. The referral was able to be at my house 30 min after church! Whoop!

He can not get to the leak through the attic, so next thing I know..he has torn down my ceiling! The pipe has been chewed up my some sort of animal...I knew I heard something up there! The water leak is fixed, my now demolished bathroom is NOT!

The plumber calls a mold and restoration people who are there in moments to start removing the wet materials. Surprise..everything was wet. The dry wall,the insulation, baseboards, carpet, cabinets, counter top, sinks, everything! I guess it could mold quickly, so the faster everything is out the less the chance and quicker the drying starts?

Today the estimator assessed the damage to report to our insurance, who of course has a giant deductible, plus will cover the water damage but not the plumbing since it was "typical wear and tear"...GRRRRRR insurance!

Before repairs can be complete I am living in RAW FEAR of a little creature attacking! I bought rat traps and tons of poison and begged my neighbor to come put it in the attic and surrounding areas in case my friend comes back while the house is under construction!

So our life continues with no bathroom or closet, and a constant flow of construction/mold/exterminator/insurance people in and out!

First Water Balloon Fight

2011-09-19T20:43:00.001-07:00

Giggle Monster

2011-09-18T15:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Memaw

2011-09-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

What better birthday present than to hear Zeke(who NEVER speaks, only signs) say Memaw for one of the first times!!!!

Silly willies

2011-09-15T15:26:00.000-07:00

Taft is more than excited about tomatoes and me singing the silly Veggietales song in a crazy voice, he gets all giddy, too bad the video died as he was bursting with energy! Zeke is "dropping it low" and dancing like a true Ethiopian. His tribe told us their dance style is all in the hips in the South, as opposed to shoulders in the North, well somehow he must have learned that in the womb. He then of course must show me and kiss the photos of his Mama and Dada and then continue his little moves. He is such a light of sunshine! ****Before anyone gives me a hard time about the music he is dancing to, yes it is popular but it has ZERO curse words, or suggestive language! We are very particular about what the boys hear or we listen to around them, which 99% of the time is Ethiopian music, worship songs or nursery rhymes, not typical radio like this video shows*****

Ready for Friday

2011-09-14T20:04:00.000-07:00

We have had in depth conversations with each division of the procedure on Friday. Uncle Tom is all lined up and prepped to be the Zeke helper, and continuous prayers are being sent. We are ready for the BIG Tummy procedure!and hopefully speedy diagnosis!

Mommy even spoke with the anesthesiology team about putting the IV in his right hand, so that when he waked up his left finger will be ready for some comfort sucking. Every past surgery they taped that hand all up and he could not get to his sucking finger which only made for a grouchy baby who turned scary psycho baby!

Our recent life!

2011-09-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

We have been busier the past few weeks than I think I ever have been my entire life, and thereofre blogging fell to the bottom of the list. Here are a few photos and then the actual blogging should continue.

Our Hero

2011-09-07T21:40:00.001-07:00

Taft health conerns

2011-09-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

We are 100% reliant and certain of God's sovereignty and healing, therefore have failed to mention the following issues, but would love prayer support from anyone who reads this and follows Christ and our journey to love and serve Him.

1. Pediatric GI: after months on the waiting list we were finally seen by the only group of Pediatric GIs in all of Tucson. Before I could even get a word in edge wise the doctor reached for Taft's belly and claimed "it is Very distended"....well yes, hence the reason we are there. He gave me a host of causes, diseases, medical issues that could have caused his giant belly. He wants to go in immediately and see the cause and issues surrounding it. The surgery is scheduled for Sept 16, next Friday! Praise God for our Doc, the quick timing, his connection to and love for Ethiopia, and a great God who will provide and protect!

2. Orthopedic inserts and leg braces: Taft's therapy team met and after several months of "wait and see" have decided to go ahead and have him fitted soon for orthopedic inserts and super short leg braces that just come a small bit over the ankle. He has basically crushed all cartilage in his feet and his feet look like little meat patties. They believe if we act now his bones and cartilage will correctly take the shape of the inserts and prevent future issues.

Tyler in the news again

2011-09-07T20:48:00.001-07:00

http://www.rc-east.com/en/regional-command-east-news-mainmenu-401/4901-g

Tyler in the news

2011-09-07T20:42:00.001-07:00

Article written on one of Tyler's projects recently. Notice his quote!!!!

http://www.isaf.nato.int/article/news/giroa-and-paktiya-prt-help-waze-zadran-open-bridge-to-future.html

Ethiopian Laugh

2011-08-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

We fell in love with the traditional wheezing that all people who speech Amharic seem to do. Mid-sentence they wheeze in and then finish their sentence, as well as when they laugh. Taft doesn't seem to have brought that little treasure home, but Zeke has always done it when he laughs and I hope he continues. Little tiny fragments of their past and culture that they have continued in the states are little glimmers of who they are and where they came from. Enjoy our Zekers!

Recent Phoenix Trip

2011-08-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

We percentile went to PHX and it was a great little Mommy + Boys trip. We hit up IKEA for some great finds, the off to our friends house for a lunch date who are anxiously awaiting their own Ethiopian bundle of joy, and a birthday party for a little Ethiopian girl who spent her first months of life in the orphanage with our little boys.

We had a great lunch date with our friends and the boys even got to run wild with all of their dogs and exotic birds. The most animal action they get is our little fish bowl, so they were a little on edge but loved and giggled with their pets. We are excitedly joining in their wait for an Ethiopian child to joining their family, and look forward to playdates with kiddos of the same heritage.

Then off to the Weber's house! We adore their entire family and had a great time visiting with all their friends and family who joined in Alli's 2nd birthday party. Heart warming to know that her 2nd birthday was so fabulous, since her first was in an orphanage in Ethiopia. We will always have a special connection to that family after traveling to meet our children together, spending time seeing Ethiopia together, and now enjoying life in the states together. They are a family first Christian family, like ours, and their little girls are adorable. I love to see the progress, development and love of adopted families! I thought it was hilarious to watch my kids compared to the insane number of children there. If you sit and watch the kids, for some reason it looks like my kids drank a Red Bull on the way there. They run fast, jump higher, scream louder, act more nuts, then ALL the other kiddos heir own age. God really dealt us a wild hand of cards, knowing we can keep up I guess! Another first at the party.....an ice cream bar with too many goodies! Did my kids eat ice cream, chocolate, etc..NO..grossed out by it, accept M&Ms. They got their hands on them and went nuts, Taft had dye streaming down his face and stood at the counter begging other people to hand him one as they went through the serving line. OUR FIRST CANDY! First of all I can't believe I let them have one, second I cant believe they liked it, or that they begged strangers for them. I think this moment is a loss of innocence and the beginning of an addiction!

Words! and Sweet Hubby!

2011-08-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

In the past few days Zeke has added a few words to his vocanulary: God, Car, Cat and....

What's that? Yes he asked the questions "What's that?". I was bathign the boys, hence the photo, and Zeke pointed and said, "What's that?". Unfortuenatly he was pointing at a poop Taft had made, gross!

The best floral deliveries are those for absoluetly no reason or holiday!!! Tyler is the best!

Tubes

2011-08-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Grrrrrrr......
After the drama of tubes and adenoids for little Z...the tubes fell out after only 7 weeks, so much for the 12-18 months the ENT said, they lasted 7 weeks! Grr...

Speech

2011-08-23T20:26:00.000-07:00

We have officially started down the path of speech therapy for little Zeke man. Our new therapist came to the home to give him an overall evaluation before scheduling regular visits. As usual it was the whole hosts of exam type questions: can he make animal noises on command, can he do a puzzle, stack block, the usual! The results: GENIUS!!! Well the silent genius that is! He scored in the 27-29 months range in basically every single category of development, and he was 18 months old!!! Basically his little mind is a year ahead! However, his expressive speech fell in the category of 6-9 months when they take signing out of the scenario. Therefore, we are beginning to work with her weekly for the next ???? undetermined amount of time. Exciting, scary and frustrating all at once. I am always just so amazed at how God places these amazing people in our lives that know just wheat we need and how to give it to us. He has blessed this little family in ways to big to ever describe!

Dino fear!!!

2011-08-22T20:57:00.000-07:00

Zeke has a abnormally serious fear of dinosaurs. Ever since we visited the children's museum, that has a life size dino exhibit, he growls at anything that has teeth. He points to crocodiles in stories, puppies across the street, hippos on posters, basically anything that has teeth, and makes a terrifying growl sound. The T-rex at the museum periodically growls, so I assume that is where he got the idea. We have now added dino to our repertoire of animal sounds. I ask "what does a dino say?", and he lets out a giant "ROAR!" The other day we got to the museum parking lot and I am searching the car for change to put into the parking meter. I got to grab Zeke out of his seat and he keeps saying, "No, no, no, no", and shaking his head No. I asked him what was wrong and he loudly ROARS at me. That little stinker has figured out that the parking lot that requires meter money, is the same lot that eventually leads to a museum, that leads to a dino room, with a T-rex that Roars! So go figure I must carry him from room to room in the museum, protecting him from the chance the next room holds the giant T-rex monster!
Silly boy!

Taft: The Man Mermaid/ The Green Hornet

2011-08-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

We have entered the world of therapeutic "Fancy Pants". Taft now wears his fancy pants for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. The pants are shiny spandex and basically have the legs sewn together so when he walks his feet barely move apart. They are intended to help with his muscular disorder, so that he holds his legs closer with each step and prevents continuing to destroy the cartilage in the arches of his feet(aka NO ORTHOPEDIC SHOES!) I know the pants are not meant to land my by on the runway of fashion week, but he is so ADORABLE. His tiny little diaper booty covered in shiny spandex with no shirt and his little belly hanging over the tight waist band, just makes me cover him in kisses. Top it off with the fact that his first pair were Kelly green, so he looked like The Green Hornet super hero. We have an additional black pair now, which look much more presentable, but not nearly as adorable. His therapist and I both see a great improvement.

In love..with each other

2011-08-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

The boys love each other in a way most of us will never understand. When I get one out of their crib first, they go stand at the other's crib until he gets out and then they run off together. Same with their high chairs. Zeke is usually cleaned up first and then he runs around to Taft's side of the table and stands at his high chair until T is cleaned up and put down to play. I find them laughing together constantly. Lately when they are given sippy cups they like to go find a little hidden space behind a club chair or between the cabinets and wall, etc and will both squeeze into the tiny space and drink their sippy cups together. I have asked at the nursery, gym, etc about their interaction. They are BEYOND SOCIAL, but always stay together when playing with the other kiddos. I love it, not only are they brothers, but best buddies, what could be better! My favorite moments lately are when one kiddo gets upset and cries, gets hurt or whatever else makes them upset, the other runs into their room and finds the appropriate lovey and comes sprinting back to the upset brother and hands him the lovey to make him feel better. Empathy is beautiful between these two!

We are getting to be big boys!

2011-08-10T21:27:00.000-07:00

We officially had our 18 month giant check-up!

We are proud to announce some GIANT numbers:

Taft:
Weight 39%
Height 39%
Head 98%

Zeke:
Weight 17%
Height 71%...he is KONSO...and is growing like a weed to be a typical one!
Head 51%

Continuation of: Feeding/Meal Therapy for both(mostly Zekey), Physical therapy for Taft, Occupational therapy for Taft.

New news:
Zeke is starting speech therapy, yes he can sign 100+ words including piecing together sentences, but he needs to TALK! However, yesterday he said "Cracker". I was organizing the pantry and he was signing "Cracker please", and I acted like I was too busy I didn't want to watch his hands as he repeated himself, so he out of the blue said CRACKER!!!

Taft has a little ligament attaching his lip and two front teeth. We all have this little connector but his meet right at his teeth, not an inch up or so like the rest of us. Therefore, we are looking into having it snipped before speech issues arise. We have an appointment with his ENT we adore for next month to see where we go from here.

We get more adorable daily!

2011-08-10T21:09:00.001-07:00

God makes our little miracles light up our life ever moment!

Silly moments:
Taft desperatelt loves trains, so much that he lines his cars up in a row and pushes the last one in the sequence as though it is a caboose to a train.

Zeke loves raisins but can not shew them well, so feeds them to me and then squeezes my cheeks to open my mouth, digs the raisin out and eats them himself..gross and adorable at the same time.

At the gym the other day Taft was starring at what I thought was the floor and then realized his eyes were tracking this little boy's feet. He then started screaming "TRUCKS!"..what was he talkign about? The little guy had cars on his shoes, and Taft was content to sit there and stare his feet down, infatutated with the shoes.

Zeke has convinced himself that a TI83 graphing calculater is an Iphone. He pushes numbers on the buttons and then holds up the phoen to his face and blabs away. He then looks back and pishes buttons like he is checking emails and things. So cute, but seriously why is he micking a smart phone behvior at 1? Then at our new, AND AMAZING, in home community group bible study for families he couldnt leave my side. We had a sitter in half the house to watch all the kiddos, but he stood at the gate and cried, so we let him join the study and he sat there quietyly flipping through a picture book on our Nook color. I can't imagine a color computer screen as a kid,let alone a touch creen color electorinc baby book...wow!

Our big eater!

2011-08-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

One of the two monsters has found his appetite! I couldn't help but post Taft falling asleep mid bite during lunch and his giant dinner the following night. Everyone might have a tiny bit of sympathy for me in seeing what a mess he makes for me to clean up 3 times a day..yikes!

Drop it low

2011-08-05T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the clothign choices...this was post food therapy when we were a total mess. However we are adorable getting our groove on!

ONLY One year ago

2011-08-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

Our 1st Anniversary

2011-08-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

On August 2, 2010 was the day we met, held and fell deeply in love with Taft and Zeke in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Yesterday marked exactly 1 year and we spent the entire day celebrating! We started off the day with telling the boys the story and sharing with them pictures of the events leading up to and including our day. Then a giant breakfast with homemade whole wheat blueberry pancakes with fresh made applesauce for dipping. Next off to the Children's museum (first day with no stroller on a outing!) for hours of play. Then, a lunch date at Pei Wei thinking they might be able to try at least something on the menu. Taft fell asleep with a noodle hanging from his mouth, and Zeke had to harass him a bit. Noodle bowls were not the success we hoped, but we tried and had a blast doing so. Off to GAP for new little sandals and we passed by Cinnabon so I couldn't resist the temptation, since it was their big day and all! Zeke wanted to have nothing to do with his treat..go figure! Taft you ask????? ATE THE ENTIRE CINNABON!!!! Yes bite by bite with a little fork, but my little big guy was all about that roll of fat and sugar! Next, headed home for their big gift, a tool table with too many tools to count! Each and every tool works just like the real thing. A bit ambitious on our behalf, but I think they will grow into the toys! Afterward, a great dinner, their favorites of course! Not sharing what those favorites might be or you might just report me to our food therapist! I gave into a lollipop after dinner. First one for Taft and only second for Zeke. They don't suck the pop, just drool all over it, which turned into every inch of the house covered in stickiness! The Zeke screamed bloody murder, and I realized he got to the Tootsie roll center and it was stuck on his teeth. He stood there with his mouth open wide until I pulled the tootsie roll bits off each little tooth. That was the end of the pop, pure fear of the CENTER! We then had to watch our video of the day we met. Finally bath time...all chaos breaks loose here! After bathing I am drying Taft off and smell something dreadful only to catch a handful of poop in my bare hands 2 seconds later. I scream and start rinsing my hands in the sink and turn by back for about 15 seconds, in the mean time he has pooped again and smeared it all over the wall and bathroom door. Yikes..rebath! I hear water, oh no little Zeke is now peeing on the bathroom rug. Could they be any more disgusting! A wild night to end our beautiful day. The day couldn't be topped off with anything better than the gift from Memaw and Pepaw in honor of our day, no not a toy or clothes, water! The made a contribution in honor of our big anniversary to Charity Water. The lack of water in Ethiopia, and all over Africa for the matter, is shocking. Children in Ethiopia simply begged us for partially empty used water bottles, not money, toys or goodies we have become accustom to seeing. What a joy and blessing to celebrate our day with the gift of clean water! God is good...one year later..wow we are blessed! Our favorite verse and prayer of Ephesians 1:4-5 resonates more real every day! Pictures are from 1st anniversary, but the video is the moment we first met!

Frustration with military regulations!

2011-08-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

Tyler's location this deployment has been much more restrictive on communications. Rarely is the Internet or phone system consistently working. This has added a whole new dynamic to the deployment with such limited communication compared to the last ones. However, we have been able to Skype periodically for the boys to see Daddy and for him to at least recognize their developments. So hard to see them together when he left and they were infants, now full grown toddler! Then upon returning from CO we were hit hard..NO MORE SKYPE! Not sure of reasoning or length of time this is for. Prayers are needed for this let down. We worry about the boys and their understanding of a Daddy figure out there somewhere. Attachment issues are always on our mind, even when Tyler was home daily, so this blow to our communication has been a low one.

Twiblings: So alike yet SO DIFFERENT

2011-08-03T19:09:00.000-07:00

On the hunt for a train table for Christmas

2011-08-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

Taft spends hours at every single group, museum, friend's house, etc piddling with trains and the tracks they belong on. We are going to be the greatest parents ever when we eventually find and purchase his very own train table...at this point we are aiming for Christmas!

Zeke melts my heart

2011-08-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

All the chaos is worth it for love like this!

2011-08-02T19:14:00.000-07:00

When I ask the boys to give me Mommy hugs they come running full of joy and literally pounce into my arms and smother me in true love!

Praise God or Zeke can hear!

2011-07-31T20:42:00.000-07:00

Howdy!
Sorry for the delayed updates, we have been much too busy, taking a slow down this week!
Last week Zeke and I spent several hours with multiple specialists at the Children's rehab center with a load of audiologist. They were more than patient and kid-friendly. Each specialist had an assistant who's primary job was to entertain Zeke and make him feel comfortable, even with wires coming and going every which way!A long time late...results have been revealed! Zeke has normal to nearly normal hearing! He can not hear extremely high or extremely low frequencies, but come to find out basically all super preemie babies can not hear those frequencies. Therefore, my little man is perfectly designed by our Creator and he is simply choosing to not speak and only sign. Praise God! I went to the appointment knowing God was in control, but knew I might hear the words "your son is deaf", I basically heard the opposite. We are grateful o our Lord for blessing little ZekeMan with the ability to hear laughter, worship, His word, music, his Mommy and Daddy's voices, etc!

On a silly note..yesterday the sitters commented that one of my boys was perfectly behaved, never cried, never was fiesty with the other children, took turns, etc. I basically had to cut them off and say "let me guess which one..TAFT?" Yep! My little Zeke is just as adorable but a bit over the top sensitive and wild!

Friday!

2011-07-29T21:33:00.001-07:00

Uncle Tom mounts our new swing and Mr. Zeke shows more personality each day, even if that persoanlity is Mr. Guilty and Mr. Style!

Backpacks

2011-07-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

The boys begged for adorable miniature "Trucks" backpacks and I couldn't resist the urge to purchase them! They simply want to wear the around!

Build a BearMan

2011-07-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

We were asked to attend the Desert museum to build a customized teddy bear that the boys design and even has a voice box that plays Daddy's voice! We had a great time playing with the stuffing and bear parts plus explored the museum and the critters in it. The TV station even interviewed us for a segment shown that evening on deployed families!

Colorado trip and Nene visits

2011-07-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

We all had a blast at the recent Johnson Family reunion in CO, and have pictures to share. The men did good on their first plane trip with out Daddy and even managed the rental house with TOO many steps. The boys loved meeting extended family and having a blast with all the new loves in their life!

We love our multiples group!

2011-07-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

We are 1.5!

2011-07-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday the boys turned 1.5 years old. The day was complete with their Nene coming to town, friends visiting, a giant 1.5 cookie, new clothes, picnic table, indoor slide and singing with Daddy via skype. This year has gone by so fast, I am looking for the slow motion button and for some reason can not find it!

Zebra

2011-07-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yes I rode a horse, but boy o boy this zebra is more fun!

Could we be more fun?

2011-07-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Only my kid does this during meals!

2011-07-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

Towel kings

2011-07-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

Edited so you will not have nightmares of post surgery healing boy parts that are naked under those towels. They refuse to let me ake the towels off ever!

We made a video at the children's museum!

2011-07-14T20:36:00.001-07:00

http://video.snibbeinteractive.com/video/2011/07/04/v20110704-100124

Cars..aka Trucks!

2011-07-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Our Ethiopian Family buddies K & P from Phoenix were able to come and visit with our family recently, and brought gifts for our boys: Cars the movie and 2 little character Cars that talk! We had such a wonderful day enjoying their company! What great parents of a little Ethiopian they will be! The boys will watch maybe 5 minutes of the movie(first movie/TV they have ever seen so didn't expect much), but adore the cars and this has spawned the attack of everything CARS at our house. I can't go anywhere with out the kids literally unbuckling themselves and lunging from he stroller for anything that has those little Cars on it. Disney really works their marketing department because I have not been able to escape a single store with out buying something Cars...I blame K & P..wink wink! We have now been gifted or purchased the following:
Cars cereal
Cars Cheese-its
Cars Juice
Cars Toothpaste
Cars Body wash
Cars Band-aids
Cars story books
Cars story books that talk
Cars tshirts
Cars sippy cups
Cars bath puffs
Cars body paint
Cars stickers

Mommy is drowning in cars..aka "trucks"..but our boys are in heaven! K & P I think you have started a love obsession!!!!

Happy Aniversary

2011-07-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

My precious husband knows how to surprise me and spoil me rotten!

Hematoma and more poop

2011-07-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

Taft:
After many days of severe pain and swelling more and more, not less and less we made an emergency Urology appointment. Come to find out, as we suspected, the artery must have burst post surgery because the skin had already healed up causing the blood to collect and bubble under the skin surface. Our big guy now has a giant hematoma that will take approximaetly 4 weeks for the bood to disipate with nasty brusing and pain until fully healed. He is such a trooper for inly fussing when his diaper is changed and putting up with more pain than we ever expected for this little procedure.

Zeke:
After plenty of concern and calls abotu lack of poop from Mr. Zeke, the problem has been solved. At the gym they called me off the machines to check on my little guy, he was screaming in pain and wanted to me hold him. He used my neck and sholders as leverage as he finally pooped for a second time int he last 7 days..yikes! Change him and comfort him, back to excercise, 30 minutes later I get called back, once again same thing. I think the constipation has been solved, especially since he had a nasty NORMAL poop in the bath tub this evening as well. My little guy is working again!!!! Seems crazy to announce to the world, but after 7 days of him not eating and screaming in pain from a tummy ache this is MONUMENTAL!!!!

The nasty cut!..and POOP

2011-07-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

My little men underwent yet another surgery with out Daddy around for support. For both faith and medical reasons out little guys were circumcised. Thankfully Memaw was here to help, but that doesn't change what we had done to them. Good thing it was both of them at once, otherwise I would not have the guts to have the second one done after seeing the aftermath. The surgery went well, we just adore their Urologist. Just as before the few moments that they come out of anesthesia are too hard on all of us. The kicking, screaming, lack of body control, etc, make for a very paranoid Mommy and sad little monsters. The few days that follow have not been easy on any one. I now see the advantages more clearly to circumcision at birth..THEY DON'T MOVE! The boys do not understand cause and effect! The take a few steps and then shudder in pain and fear, then take a few steps and repeat. They are old enough to take off their own diaper and grab at privates, breaking seals and spilling blood onto their little legs. I try and convince them to be still and listen to music, read stories, etc, but slowing them down just seems too hard. The faster they go the more they reach down to their crotch and scream in pain. My heart hurts not knowing how to take away the pain, on top of the fact it took both mom and I together holding them down to give the pain meds orally and ointment onto the skin. High chairs, car seats, and sitting down at all has proven the most painful so we are working on eventually being able to sit and put pressure down South again. Prayer is the only help now!

Poop
Yes I titled that poop. The meds and anesthesia once again constipated the boys after the surgery. Finally Taft pooped after screaming in pain for the 15 minutes leading up to it. I could tell it hurt by his face and the nightmare that I found in the diaper afterward. Our pediatrician is a fried, so I just confronted her and asked for any advice possible. After major diet changes and 4 doses of Mirolax they have both now gone. I guess the little pebbles in their diaper count as "going". I was so excited that we finally made progress I took a photo and sent it out to multiple people, pathetic mother I am! The best part of the poop story is Taft made his little gravel pile in his diaper, then ripped it off and shook the diaper until the pebbles were all over the floor. Now create your own mental picture of me chasing little poop pebbles around the floor, while Zeke is trying his hardest to grab one before I scoop it up. I know you are cracking up now!

4th of July

2011-07-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

The little monsters decorated their own Independence day cookies, sported head to toe red, white and blue, spent the day at the Children's museum with Miss Jessica and Memaw(loved it so much we bought a family annual pass!), great lunch with the girls, bar-b-que grill out and root beer floats at the AFB celebration, glow stick necklaces followed by wonderful fireworks!

Ashley visits, Swim school, Memaw visits and a fabulous family vacation in Ruidoso!

2011-07-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

FIRST pony rides!
FIRST Horse racing!
FIRST Quarter amusement rides!
FIRST Running wild on a golf course with four generations of extended family!
FIRST swim lessons at swim school..at which one of us mastered!!!!

New looks

2011-06-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

The little monsters do now have an abundance of new summer jammies. I started to realize we have about 30 feeted long sleeve jammies, but now that it is 100 degrees outside that doesn't cut it. I might have lost it went the other day I ordered EACH kiddo 5 sets of summer pajamas a piece. Yes I know 10 sets! We needed it!

Also, I couldn't resist these little glasses and shirts from gymboree. I couldn't resist that they have the words chief and tribe, since they are from a tribe. Yes they are more TIKI then Ethiopian, but still pretty ironic and silly for them to wear!

New Talents

2011-06-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

WE have new talents at the Johnson house:
Zeke now uses his food and bowl to build pyramids.
Taft now sits on a basketball and bounces as though it is a yoga ball.

Zoo Photos

2011-06-18T20:00:00.000-07:00

Swim date

2011-06-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends the Payne Family invited us over for a swim playdate. The little monsters and both families had a great swim and lunch playing together.
Francine took some adorable photos!

Dog Days of Summer

2011-06-16T21:11:00.000-07:00

One the weather comes on and every single day of the 10 day forecast has a high OVER 100 degrees I can officially declare we have hit the dog days of summer!

Bully
Lately I have seen the boys playing together and hear Zeke says "uhoh" and then Taft whine, then "uhoh" then whine. Finally I realize Zeke is taking away a toy Taft has and throwing down and then saying "uhoh" like Taft dropped it. What a bully?

Naps
A few days this week Taft would wake up from his nap after only laying down for 10 minutes crying. My solution take his to my bed and snuggle him. Of course he falls right asleep and Mommy gets to snuggle him for a long time. These moments are good and bad I know, but I love every second of it!

Foot rest
As most of you know we own 2 wooden high chairs, 2 plastic high chairs and 2 booster chairs with trays, yes that is EXCESSIVE! Then the food therapist realized the wooden ones don't have a tray but have a foot rest, and the other sets have a tray but no foot rest. the boys need both due to their sensory issues, some of which are food related. Therefore, the goofy parents we are bought pvc pipe and plastic framing for a door and made our own little foot rests for the plastic high chairs. Can we say high maintenance children?!

Brushing teeth
Zeke's new thing is to watch me brush my teeth and open his mouth begging to brush his for a second, then mommy, then Zeke. Yes with my tooth brush and big people toothpaste! Yuck!

Cars/Trucks
I am tempted to rent Cars the movie and let the boys watch it. Taft is now officially obsessed with trucks, which are really cars, but he calls trucks. He searches every page of his books looking for trucks then comes running to me to show me the truck he found in the corner of the 5th page or so. He even realized one of their bath soaps has a picture of a car on it and wants to carry it around. In the car is the worst; I look in the mirror at him and he literally hollers "truck" and points at every single car that goes by! Michaels had a display of car paraphernalia and he literally was trying to jump out of the stroller to get to the "trucks"! I don't let the kiddos watch TV at all, but I might make an exception and rent the movie CARS to see how thrilled he gets!

Tyler's Travels and address

2011-06-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

Look at the trips my world travel has taken in just the past 2 weeks:
Louisiana to Tucson
Tucson to Indiana
Indiana to North Carolina
North Carolina to Maine
Maine to Ireland
Ireland to Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan to Bagram
Bagram to Salerno
Salerno to Gardez...this leg was a helicopter ride so made my hubby excited!

Now he is safe in Gardez, his actual deployment location..FINALLY

For those interested his address is:

Capt Tyler Johnson
PRT Paktya/Engineer
FOB Gardez
APO AE 09364

He loves notes and any reminders of home. So if you have a moment drop him a line.

Trauma for Zeke and Mommy

2011-06-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

At church today it was promotion for the boys! They left the much loved nursery and moved up to the movers and shakers room. Our friend and volunteer Mr. Mark moved up with them for the day because he adores them and they love him more than almost anyone! That was sweet of him to keep an eye out on them for their first day in the big boy room. I was warning the teacher how Zeke is a wild monkey lately and I turn around to show her the differences in features between Taft and Zeke(since everyone still thinks they look the same :( ) and go figure Zeke is crawling UP the slide while other kids are trying to go DOWN. Was I surprised...unfortunately NO! The new class has all sorts of climb and tumble equipment so I am sure they were all over the place. Church was great, and he is where the trauma comes into play...

After church we run to the grocery store. I thought I was getting a few items so took the stroller to stack the stuff on the top. Well a few items turned into $140, or a MOUNTAIN on top of, under, inside the stroller! I am cruising along and a 12 pack of Diet Coke falls and starts spurting all over, get a replacement, that one falls a few minutes later, no spurting just cans roiling every which way. I look in at the boys while picking up the cans and see that Taft is holding Mr. Cow and Zekey's lovey is GONE/Missing/Heart attack for Mommy is starting! I went up and down each aisle, alert the manager, ask customer service, get them to make an announcement. A million thoughts run through my head of how in the world out life is going to continue with out that little lime green satin rag. After 40 minutes I start to have an all out panic as Zeke screams and screams. I realize I might never again sleep until this is found. I told the manager I was sleeping at the store until it turned up, he thinks I was kidding..I AM NOT!!! I loose all self control I have left and start shouting to people in line, asking if they have seen it. I go up and down the aisles warning customers to be on the look out. At this point I am sure people wanted to put me is some asylum. Finally woman hears me and says "oh what color is it?" "I have it, I put it in my cart a while back when I saw it getting run over and planned to turn it into the cashier when I checked out. I ran over an hugged her, and then started crying like a baby. Yes with an audience of about 20 grocery shoppers I was crying! All the middle aged people comforted me and explained they totally get it, their kids all had a special comfort item too! Mommy's and Daddy's understood, the teens and singles thought I needed a straight jacket!

End of story: Zeke and Lovey have been reunited for good!!!!

Praise and our lion cub

2011-06-11T21:51:00.001-07:00

Today the Officer's wives sponsored a little Mommy time out for the deployed wives...basically they just paid the childcare on base to open for a few hours on a Saturday. When I dropped them off I explained how Taft had a muscular disorder so he doesn't walk..blah blah blah as usual. They asked which kid I was referring to since I turn around and they both are walking toward me. I love those boys! When I went to pick them up I was told EVERY SINGLE OTHER KIDDO took an afternoon nap EXCEPT Taft...surprise surprise, the only toddler who doesn't ever sleep! Tyler might be right, he is part lion cub! The preschool teachers asked if I stayed home with them, when I said yes this was their comment: " We wish you didn't stay home, because these 2 are by far the best behaved and most fun children we have had in a long time and would be a pleasure to have in our classroom regularly!" I love when others recognize that my kids ROCK! Does that make me want to put them in Daycare..no..not just no, NO NO NO NO NO WAY NO!, but does it make my heart smile, YES!!!!

Back to life as a single mom

2011-06-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

A few events have already occurred in my short return to life as a single mother.
Ear infection
After Tyler left Sunday I was bathing the boys and saw what I thought was a raisin in Zeke's ear. Oh great...Daddy has been gone a few hours and I already have an emergency of stuffing a raisin in his ear. I slowly try to pull out the raisin and I realize it s no raisin at all. The end seems like it, but as I pull the other side is gross and not totally solid. I push on his ear afterward and out pours like a Tablespoon of nastiness. I make an appointment for first thing in the morning. Not only is that ear severely infected, but so is the other one. Poor baby!

Private Swim: Canceled
Until we can cure the ear infections our private swim instruction which was to start this past Monday will be postponed.

Sign Language School
We started sign language on Monday and it is fantastic. It is semi-private so we are one of four families. The boys are the oldest and much more rambunctious than the other "babies". Taft was more interested in sticking his fingers in a hole drilled in the wall then the teacher. We were using signs to show body parts on baby dolls and Zeke was dragging/hitting/basically abusing his baby doll. Then the teacher was having the boys sign "Mommy More please" to get a few cheerios. Zeke Aced the test, Taft then thought this is worthless I will just got knock down a little baby and steal his cup of cheerios out of his hand. The class itself continued that way, but since then we have mastered about 15 signs used properly at home. Taft of course would rather just say the words, but little Zeke like to just sign, hence the reason we are taking the class. I love the books, and the literature explaining how kiddos desire communication and understand long before they can physically form verbal communicate, but have the fine motor skills to sign. I think Mr. Zeke is the perfect example of that!

Therapy
Slowly progressing....blah blah blah

Mommy and Me Zoo Trip
The Mothers at our church planned a trip to the zoo and we had a blast looking at the animals and enjoying good fellowship. The highlight of the day was the giraffe feed. Zeke handed the carrots to the giraffe and died laughing as his tongue touched his arm, cute. Taft then was HILARIOUS! He held the carrot out and waited until the giraffe's tongue literally wrapped up his entire arm then would jerk the carrot back and laugh. He must have done this little "trick" to the poor giraffe 10 times. Mean little bully of a baby harassing a giant giraffe.

First Blood
Today at the gym I drop the kids off, go work out, check on them, then head to the showers. I am in the shower and hear a panic scream "Taft and Zeke's mom!!!". I literally jump out dripping wet stark naked reaching for my clothes and towel. The child watch helper is the one screaming for me, I run with her to the room. Zeke was carrying a wooden puzzle with big knobs and tripped and fell onto the puzzle. He slammed his face into the knobs. His little nose was bleeding and he had a busted open lip. Our first ever blood!!! We calmed his down, had first aid assistance and then were required to fill out an incident report. My little baby!

Desert Oasis
We decided the patio was to slick to have the water table, pool and basically anything wet on for the little ones any more. Therefore, I took the challenge into my own hands! I purchased and "professionally installed over a 100 sq ft of AstroTurf in the side yard so that the little men can have a little water and play area. I have giant blisters peeling back and all bloody in multiple places on both hands, and yes I was in the yard with porch lights on at midnight cutting the turf, but I think it looks great. Everything went smooth except moving hundreds of pounds of crushed granite and rocks all over the yard and laying sand to level the turf, but a few hours later I think it looks pretty good for a home alone little Mama!

A united family!

2011-06-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

The past week was a euphoria for all 4 of us, since we were united as a solid family unit. We were able to swim alot, go to parks, great dinners out, grill out alot, lunch with buddies, play groups, therapies, and for the first time in ages 3 meals together every day. So many details from each day come to mind, but don't want to bore anyone with how elated we were to be together.

Take that muscular disorder!!! and THE QUAD!

2011-06-07T21:20:00.000-07:00

We have so many exciting event to share, but have not had a second to post. Therefore, I had to take just a second to post our big guy learning to walk. I love that he over comes his struggles and literally knocks down that muscular disorder diagnoses by taking his first steps..before all the therapists predicted!!!!

We bought the kids a little quad for memorial day, yes we might be loosing our marbles!

My life is a comedy

2011-05-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

The boys are dancing/thrusting their little bottoms to the music of their treehouse. Zeke now eats in a "special" way..the vaccuum way!

Best word yet!!!

2011-05-24T21:21:00.000-07:00

Men....is reference to AMEN!!!!!
After we pray Taft says "Men"!!!!
I well up thinking of his little voice ending our prayers. Our biggest passion in life is for these young men to give their life Christ, and hearing him join me in prayer is a step in that direction in some silly way!