Build-A-Bear for the Baby

I found a coupon for Build-A-Bear Workshop in one of my magazines that expires on Dec. 31st, and the kids had been dying to go since they recently opened one in our local mall. So, last Saturday, I offered to take them and let them make a bear for the baby. Jared decided that he would rather hang out with dad, but Lauren wanted to go, so we fought the holiday crowds and made "Baby Bear" for little sis-to-be. It was pretty fun.

First, she got to push the pedal to help stuff the bear.

Then, she picked out a heart, made a wish, and put it inside the bear.

Next, she cleaned and fluffed the fur.

Now it was time to dress the bear. We tried on several outfits and decided on a plain pink t-shirt and a kit that came with a pink baby bonnet, blankie, bottle, and rattle.

Finally, we registered the bear and printed out the birth certificate. So, when the baby arrives in April, the kids will now have a cute little gift to give her! How fun!

P.S. Both kids got a gift certificate to BABW for Christmas from Mimi and Pa, so they are excited to go back and make one for themselves!

Christmas Parties and Plays

I've got a lot of events to cover, so let's start with our church's Christmas dinner on December 14th. We enjoyed visiting with some neighbors and friends over a potluck supper. Jared was chosen to sit in Santa's lap and help him with the book he was reading to all of the children (I'm not sure why Santa chose such a big boy to sit on his lap for so long, but I guess he is used to people sitting on his lap. Maybe his legs are always numb?).


The next event was on December 16th. The third graders performed "SuperClaus!" at the high school auditorium. It was AMAZING! Especially the angel wings (ha ha! A little joke because I helped make some of them.) Jared was a reindeer and a shepherd. He delivered his lines perfectly- slowly and clearly! The show was about an hour long and every child had a chance to be in the spotlight. The music teacher is my friend's mother, and she is awesome! Three of Jared's close friends were in leading roles- Santa, Mrs. Claus and Dr. Brainpain (the Dr. treating Santa for amnesia). It was really something! Just ask the next time you come over, and we'll be happy to show you the video!

















(My camera does not do well at a distance!)

















(Jared in the middle in the mustard colored garb)

















The next day, Lauren sang some Christmas songs with her class in chapel at her school. She did GREAT! She had been practicing her songs at home and after singing, "Let's worship Jesus. Let's worship Jesus. Let's worship Jesus, and celebrate his birth."- she asked me, "Mom, what does worship mean?" I thought it was cute and am glad she asked and wanted to know!






















Friday, December 19th, both kids had their Christmas parties back-to-back, and then we went to Steve's office for lunch. Lauren's class had a snack, made a couple of crafts, and played a game.

















Jared's class made paw-print hats and played a game where they broke into 4 teams and each team had to dress up one member as "Rudolph" using pantyhose, balloons, and bows. It was funny and cute!

Christmas 2008

These are the pictures we took at Sears just before Thanksgiving. We used the sled one for our Christmas cards. I've had a few comments about Lauren's "Texas hair!"- gotta love it! And my handsome Jared, with his new tooth just starting to come in. My babies are growing so fast!!

A visit with Santa

The professional picture

My picture

Jared requested Legos, and Lauren wants a boy Barbie..."and the rest can be a surprise"!

Happy Holidays

We had a wonderful Turkey Day at my mom's! Three dogs and 20 people make for quite a festive gathering! Steve and my dad took the kids to see Madagascar 2, and we did a little Black Friday shopping. Oh, and ATE A LOT!


























We stopped in College Station on the way back to drive around and see all the changes...there have been a lot in the past 12 years!

Here's my little turkey at her school party:





And with her friends on the field trip:










We've been busy since then with bday parties, school functions, etc.. Steve finally finished the outside lights today, and the tree will hopefully go up tonight. Ho ho ho!

The Big News!!!

I am so excited to finally announce to everyone that we are expecting a baby in April!! God is so good and faithful! His is amazing, and His timing is perfect! We are extremely thrilled to be adding a final addition to our family! I am a little over 19 weeks pregnant at this time, and am feeling great! April 11th is my due date. I was a little queasy the first 13 weeks or so, but not really sick- food just wasn't very appealing. I had my ultrasound this morning, and we found out that it's a....HEALTHY BABY! We did find out the sex, but I'd like to have a little fun and see if you can guess before I announce it. Here are the pictures:

Alien face (precious alien!):















Profile with hand near open mouth:
















Profile with body:















And...the money shot:

















It's a girl!!

Wide, wide weekend of sports!

The Johnson family had a fun-filled weekend here in Waco watching Baylor sporting events. First, we spent Saturday afternoon at the Baylor vs. A&M football game. As you can see from our attire, we were a bit confused about who to cheer for in this match-up. My sweet friend, Kim Achuff, gave us the tickets to the game. Her husband is one of the Baylor coaches, and we have been cheering for Baylor all year long and been so excited to see the improvement they have made this season!! (I took some pictures of him in action- yellow hat and grey sweatshirt) However, as a member of the Fighting Texas Aggie class of '96, I was compelled to root for the Aggies this time. (I was a little nervous about this, seeing as we were seated 3 seats down from Art Briles' wife (BU's head coach). You can see her in the yellow sweatshirt behind Jared to the left.) To balance it out, Steve wore his Baylor shirt, and Lauren wore her pink BU hat. Jared was very diplomatic and decided to wear his Aggie shirt and hat, but bring his Baylor foam finger to show his support for the Bears. We ended up cheering for both teams- pretty much whoever was on offense. Needless to say, the Aggies "ran out of time" once again (41 to 21). I have to give Baylor credit- they did play a great game! A&M, not so much. We had a good time and enjoyed the "football weather"- it actually felt like November in the stands! I am also happy to report that A&M DID win halftime!!








Whoop!









Steve had heard on the radio that if you took your football tickets to one of the Baylor basketball games this weekend, you could get tickets for $5. So, Sunday afternoon we went to watch the Lady Bears take on #2 ranked Stanford. Another great game! Baylor won 81 to 65! Rachel Allison was HOT, and ended up with 25 points! We got home, ate dinner, and sat down to watch the Cowboys win! Thus, our sports weekend was complete!

Halloween and The Shrunken Head

Judging by the HUGE bucket of candy in our kitchen, I'd say it was a successful Halloween! Lauren wore her costume to school for her "Fall Party" Friday morning. They played "pin the nose on the pumpkin", but she was a little off (see pic)! We ate dinner around 6:45, and then I took Indy and Dorothy around the neighborhood while Steve stayed home and passed out candy to the never-ending stream of trick-or-treaters. Every time someone would comment on her costume, Lauren would come running back to me and say, "They knew I was Dorothy!" She was so excited people knew who she was...it was cute! She would also tell me when she remembered to say "thank you" to people. (I love those manners!) We ran into a few friends while we were out, too. I'd have to say that overall, it was our best Halloween yet- the weather was perfect, and both kids were able to walk the whole time without complaining, or falling down and spilling out all of their candy! By the time we got back home, Steve was OUT of candy, so we called it a night just before 9:00 p.m.

Saturday, we helped Jared with his "shrunken head" project for school. They were to dehydrate an apple, decide what character it looked like, dress it up as that character, and write a report about him or her. He chose Albert Einstein. (Thanks to Ken doll for donating his body to science!)