Handy Manny

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

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

God's gifts

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?

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

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!

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

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!

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

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?

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

Air Force Academy

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

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

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!

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

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

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!

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

Giggle Monster