Our E-Christmas Card

I am a total slacker this year and I didn't send anything out for Christmas.  I will next year, I promise!  I love getting Christmas cards from people and my fear is always that if I skip a year, no one will send anything to me the next year.

But I did send out a Christmas email.  If you read the blog no none of this information will be new to you, but in case I didn't get you in the email list (quite possible considering that I don't have my email very organized), here is what I sent:

Hello Friends and Family,

We are going the easy route by sending out our Christmas card over email this year, but at least we have a good excuse!  We recently welcomed our newest child, James Burton Johnson.  He was born the afternoon of December 3rd, and was 9 pounds, 4 ounces and 20.5 inches long.  He is three weeks old now and has charmed us all already.  If you were to ask any of the other kids about James, they would all shrug and say, "he cries."  See?  Charmed.

Joel continues working as a financial analyst for the HON company here in Muscatine, Iowa.  He also is enjoying serving as Young Men's president at church and attending the boy scout campouts.  During Joel's free time he finds himself constantly bombarded with little bodies who love wrestling with their Papa, and he is especially charmed by our daughter's magical giggle.  

Elise continues working. . .at home.  With four little ones we stay pretty busy but it is almost always a whole bunch of fun.  In between changing poopy diapers, sleeping, and filling hungry bellies, Elise is teaching preschool to Everett and Ashley this year in preparation for Everett's advancement to kindergarten in the fall.  So far this school year we've reviewed number recognition, letter recognition, beginning reading, patterns, rhyming, writing, the days of the week, animals and their habitats, and experienced plenty of nature first-hand.   Everett and Ashley have enjoyed staying at home with Mama for one last year, and Elise has enjoyed the quality time with the kids and having an excuse to delay doing housework.

Everett turned five this year, an event he had been counting on for months.  He is fully immersed in a major superhero phase, and although Wolverine remains his ultimate favorite, he especially enjoys acting out different scenarios involving made-up superheros and their powers.  Everett is a fantastic older brother and takes pride in helping to make his siblings (and his mother) happy.  He loves writing (dictating) stories and listening to Elise read any of the Magic Tree House books, as well as kicking the soccer ball around in the back yard.  We are happy to report that this year at church, Everett did not pull the fire alarm or eat the sacrament bread during the annual children's Primary program.

Ashley is three-and-a-half and is every bit our little lady.  As stubborn as her father, she also has a very sensitive side and has consequently softened each one of us.  She has a real love of life and a mature intelligence, as well as a profound sense of empathy.  Not much of a baby person, Ashley constantly cares for her treasured stuffed cat.  We all know we have met her approval when she brings her cat up to lick our faces. 

William, at almost two, is our little clown.  He loves wrestling.  Elise often hears him yell "Hi-yah!" as he runs to attack her legs, usually while she is busy in the kitchen.  William waits anxiously each day for Joel to return home from work so he can run into his Papa's arms.  William also enjoys throwing anything he can find and has proven to have quite a strong arm.  This is especially evident when his latest projectile hits one of his siblings in the face.  Other interests include: dogs, cars, baby dolls, and being held by his Mama.

We have had a wonderful year and we wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a joyful year to come.  Thank you for your continual love and support.  Your Christ-like examples have made it easier to teach our children about the Savior this year.

With Love,

Elise, Joel 

Everett, Ashley, William, and James.

My William

I've talked a little already about how William is my little shadow.  He has really been doing some fun things lately so I thought I would talk about him again.  

Just before James was born, William decided that baby dolls were very interesting.  He is the first of my kids to like dolls.  We have two old baby dolls with no clothes on and one Dora the Explorer doll, and he would carry them all over the house.  

Lately William has been dragging a baby doll around while it is sitting in a doll highchair.  He stops periodically and feeds it with a baby fork, or gives it drinks with any cup he can find.  It is very funny and very sweet.  William similarly tries to help me with James.  Any time he sees me sitting down with the baby, William grabs my nursing pillow and brings it to me.  He also loves to bring me pacifiers, and if James is crying I will often find William trying to give a pacifier to him all on his own.  

William also loves necklaces.

Some friends of ours gave us a big box of outgrown dress-up clothes, and included in there were a bunch of necklaces.  William has been in heaven.  He loads himself up and struts around the house like he is king of everything.

William is starting to talk a lot more.  He routinely asks me for "More cookies please," and he likes to imitate phrases we say.  Most of the time it sounds pretty garbled but I think he has fun trying to talk like a big kid.

William really tries his hardest to be my special helper.  He follows my every move when I'm in the kitchen.  He knows how to shut the little soap door in the door of the dishwasher and he knows which buttons to push in order to start the whole thing.  If he finds dishes or utensils on the table, he whisks them away and stretches as high as he can to dump them in the sink.  William loves to help me load the dishwasher and he also loves to help me put things away.  He knows where most everything goes, as long as it is in a low cupboard.

William also likes to put his clothes in the laundry hamper, bring Joel his watch, help me fold the laundry, and do all sorts of other little helpful things.  I just wish that when he is old enough to really help he will still want to do it!

Best of all, William is very obedient.  He really tries hard to be a good little boy, and it is very sweet.  He almost always listens to us, even if we ask him to stop doing something he is engaged in.  The best part is, he still loves to tease Everett and Ashley, and he knows exactly which buttons to push (such as taking a treasured toy and running away with it).  

Two Questions

When Joel and I were first married, he requested that I make our family's stockings.  He has great memories of the stocking his mom made for him and he hoped our children could have the same memories.

I don't know if they are starting to have memories of them or not, but Everett and Ashley loved pulling our stockings out this year.  

I didn't want to hang them above the fireplace because our mantle is a little loose and I am afraid someone will pull the whole thing down, so we made use of the railing above one of our living room sofas.

BUT, we have a couple of problems!  Only four of our stockings are done (minus the name embroidered on the top--still haven't figured out how to do that).  I didn't do William's last year because he was just a baby and Joel wanted to wait and see if we could think of an elf based on his personality.  

These are the parents' stockings.  Obvious, right?  It took me a while to figure out how to Mrs. Claus myself, but I  realized a rocker and a book would be a good way to do it.  (Don't mind the black lint on her forehead.)

Everett and Ashley are the baker elf and the stuffed animal-making elf.  Fun, fun!

William. . . is nothing at this point.  I have one week to finish, because I am awesome and way ahead of the game here.  Should we have him be the elf in charge of making cars and trucks?  Balls?  Bumps on the head (now that right there would be a good snapshot of William)?

Aaaaand, question number two:

What color stocking should I do for James?  All of these stockings are made from sweaters so I can just add on whenever I want without worrying about matching a particular fabric.  But should I never repeat a color we've already used?  Is this something I shouldn't worry about?  If I do choose a new color, what should it be?  A yellowy gold?  Grey?  Light blue?  I'm having a hard time coming up with options.

Bath Aftermath

Know what I love?

Post-bath, sticking-straight-up baby hair!

Side note: James had his two-week check up today and he has gained back the 7 ounces he lost in the hospital and has grown an inch.  Way to go, champ!

Squeezy

It has been a relaxing first week with the new baby!  I do happen to have a sinus infection, which is not great timing, but it has given us an excuse to sit around and watch movies all day together.  Sometimes I think we need a break from our regular schedule and this has been it.  I don't think I've brushed Ashley's hair all week, I haven't cooked dinner thanks to some wonderful church members and neighbors, and my ratty sweats have become my best friend.

In essence, it has been a great few days!  The kids have really made friends with their new brother.  

When I first came home from the hospital, William would barely even look at me.  This Mama's boy would only go to Joel.  I don't know if William was angry that I had been gone for two days or that I brought a new baby home with me, but he didn't want much to do with me at first.  If I tried to initiate some contact, he would say "Baby" and walk away.

So Baby James spent most of his first day or two home in the baby swing, at least until the kids went to bed at night.  This way I could focus lots of attention on the ones who really needed it.  I hoped this would help William re-adjust.  

Do you think it has?

Yep.  He is a pretty happy guy now and has gotten over his first bout of resentment.  William loves to bring me James's pacifiers, which I don't particularly love him doing but I know the sweet little guy just tries to help.

Everett thinks Baby James is his special buddy.  He is right.  But Everett also thinks that he gets priority when anyone else wants to hold him.

So Ashley holds her own baby, the well-loved kitty.

She gets frustrated with Everett's possessiveness but she doesn't mind too much.  Like many little girls, she does have a special bond with her favorite stuffed animal.  Ashley bought it at Walmart with some Christmas money about a year ago.  We recently noticed that these cats are still available for purchase.  It was pretty funny to compare the new, soft, un-used plush animals to the ratty, stained old thing Ashley still carries around.  But she loves it just the same.

And James?  He is doing great!  He is opening his eyes more and more, which is a real treat and melts me up inside every time.  There is something special about watching a days-old baby seeing the fuzzy world for the first time.

We're all in love with this sweet baby!

Vacation Days with Papa

I don't think the kids really missed me while I was in the hospital (or hotel, as they kept calling it).  Sure, they were a little sad when they realized after visiting me that they had to go home without me, but I don't think they were sad for long.  Why?  Because they have an awesome father!

Yesterday I got to see for myself why that is.  Joel took the day off work and the kids had a blast!  They had much more fun with him than they do with me.  It reminds me of when I was six and my younger brother was in the hospital for a few months--I always looked forward to movie nights with popcorn on the days my Dad was home with us.

Joel let me sleep in and handled all of our usual morning things, like chores.

He even did school with the kids.  They learned about the letter P and painted pictures of princesses, pirates, and penguins.  Everett claimed Joel's pirate ship masterpiece as his treasure.

As though games of Memory and Guess Who?, fun TV shows, and a trip to Wal-mart for some essentials and candy weren't enough, it even snowed yesterday.

You can't have fun outside without running from a few snowballs.

Joel showed Ashley how to form a perfect snowball and she was delighted.  William was sad that he didn't get to go out with the kids so I finally got him dressed and sent him out.  He was thrilled, although he fell down every other second.

It's funny how big the youngest child looks when you bring home a new baby.  I always know it is going to happen but I am never fully prepared for it.  William doesn't look like a baby to me anymore, but he is still just as fun.

Everyone has enjoyed snuggling with baby James, especially Everett.  He is pretty comfortable around babies by now and he has learned to really value the cuddliness of newborns.  These two share a room.  When William wakes in the middle of the night, sometimes Everett does too and so I let Everett give James a little kiss and a snuggle before I feed and change him.

These two co-conspirators were sneaking candy from under that Spiderman blanket.  Pretty funny!

So as you can see, Everett, Ashley, and William were in kid heaven with Joel home.  (I was in wife heaven.)  Today has been pretty boring without him, I'm afraid, although Everett and Ashley found the rest of the candy stash and polished it off before I caught them.  I don't know what that means but it probably counts for something.

Our New Bundle

James Burton Johnson

was born

Saturday, December 3rd at 12:19 pm.

He weighed

9 pounds, 4 ounces

and was 20 1/2 inches long.

(Saturday night--Mama is pale and swollen and James is red and swollen!)

None of the nurses could believe that I had a nine pound baby, but if they had seen me at the end of my pregnancy they wouldn't have been so surprised.

Everett was the only one who wanted to hold James in the hospital.  This picture really shows how swollen that little baby's face was!  

Ashley sat on the bed next to James and me and was thrilled when he grabbed her finger.

William sat on the bed next to James and me. . .and was decidedly not thrilled, so he began to shove baby James away.  

James is a little feisty.  He didn't cry much the first day but after that he really let his wishes be known.  He discovered that he prefers being held to anything else and it takes him about two seconds to start yelling if he has gotten hungry.

Aaaand, he has quite a birthmark on his nose!  It is about the size of a pencil eraser and is probably permanent.  The Pediatrician at the hospital suggested we get it lasered off when he is about one year old, so we'll see if that is even something we want to do.

None of the nurses ever mentioned it until I did.  I think they are too smart to even insinuate to a Mom that her new baby is anything less than perfect.  

There is a large red birthmark on his abdomen as well.  I told some of the nurses that this way we'll always be able to tell him apart from the other kids.

I will report more later.  We are home now and I am enjoying being out of the hospital.  Joel has a few days off from work and I am looking forward to some good family time.

Scarlett O'Hara

Last March, I found a beautiful cotton curtain panel in a great shade of purple.  It only cost about a dollar and I knew right away that I wanted to use it to make a dress for Ashley.  I figured it could be her Easter dress.  Once in a while I really enjoy the challenge of making something out of nothing, so I used no pattern and just figured out how to implement my ideas.  It takes a long time so I only have it in me to do this once a year or so.  We'll see if I can manage it again next year.

Of course, true to form, I didn't finish it until August!  But slap a sweater on that thing and it works for winter as well.

Ashley wasn't very enthusiastic about pictures this morning, but I made her pose for me anyway.  She thought up this melancholy-faced pose all on her own.

Then I sent her closer to the window so she could watch squirrels play in our yard.  The natural light was much better.

I think Ashley likes the dress.  She calls it her purple princess dress.  I like the petticoat ruffle underneath the top skirt.

I had to post this picture as well, even though it doesn't show the dress.  I sure wish my skin looked as clear and dewy as this!  What a sweet little girl.

Child Psychology

From my understanding, child psychologists often use art to encourage their young patients to express themselves about past traumas.

I thought I would share this with you.  Ashley and I were drawing one day and she said she wanted to draw a whole family of birds.  First came the Mama bird.  Then she drew four babies, one girl and three boys (as our family will have any time now).  Ashley has watched enough Disney movies to know that female animals always have very long, fluttery eyelashes, so naturally that is how she distinguishes the girls from the boys.

And that was that.  But then Ashley tipped her head and examined her picture.  "No, I'm going to make them ALL girls!" she said, "because it's better like that!"

So within a few seconds the Mama bird now had all daughters.

Ashley needed to add one more thing.  "I'm going to draw the meanest, meanest Daddy bird ever!"  she announced.  In the few seconds it took her to doodle his outline, Ashley repeated her original statement about the bird being mean.

"Why is the Daddy bird so mean?" I asked with a laugh.  But she didn't have an answer for me, just a shy grin.

After an addition of a mustache on the Dad's beak (does a mustache make a man evil in the mind of a three-year-old?), Ashley declared her picture complete.

If I were a child psychologist, I might be a little worried.  But I'm not which means I was able to get a good laugh.  Joel, on the other hand, has periodically mentioned the mean daddy aspect of this picture for days.  What does that mean for him?  I'm not a regular psychologist either so it's up to you to decide!

Everett Is Five!

Everett had a good birthday, I think.  He has been looking forward to this day for six months, during which time he'd often tell people that he is "Almost five turning six."

I've mentioned before that Everett is wholly engaged in a major superhero phase.  Well, superhero action figures are all he has been asking for for months on end.  I'd often ask Everett if he could think of anything else he might want as well, and he never could.

Well, superheros we can do!  I found a seller on Ebay who was getting rid of a bunch of figurines and I ordered them.  They were to be Everett's one and only present.  If he was happy with and excited about one present, who am I to argue with that?  In the end I did get him a set of watercolor paints and markers that the other kids could give him, but we kept it pretty simple.  He is still only five and I'm just glad he's not asking for anything fancy.

Everett's morning started off well, because Joel promised him that he would come take Everett out to lunch. Everett told me that he wanted to go to "That place with the girl with the red hair and pigtails."  Hah.  Can you tell that we deprive our kids and don't go out to eat very often?

Everett had a great time and even got to meet some of Joel's co-workers, who also happened to be eating at Wendy's.  Ashley is already looking forward to her birthday so she can go out to a restaurant as well.

Everett first asked for fish for bis birthday dinner, but then changed his mind to bacon and pancakes with whipped cream.  Fine by me!  I even added some raspberries to top the pancakes.   After we ate, Everett finally got to open his presents.

I did something mean, though.  Ashley has a little mermaid with pink hair and she and I wrapped it up to give Everett.  We handed that to him as his one and only present and waited while he opened it.  Ashley thought it was very funny.  Everett, once he got the wrapping paper off, did not.

We got it on video.  Password: birthday

    

If you don't care to watch: 

"I don't want this!!!"  He whined and threw it across the room.  The poor guy had been anticipating his superheroes for so long that this was far more than just a let-down.  He started to cry a little until we told him that it was a joke.  We opened presents at the end of a very long day and I think he may have had a better sense of humor about it had he not been so tired.  But he was certainly relieved when I brought out his real presents.

First was the markers from Ashley.

Then the watercolors from William.

And finally Everett got to open the box full of individually-wrapped superheroes.  I think we got him about fifteen in all--mostly the X-men and their villains and a couple of Spiderman characters.  Ashley was thrilled that there were three female figurines and so the kids have been playing with these constantly.

After presents we had cake.  Everett requested chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and chocolate sprinkles. I decorated it with a Super Everett theme and he was satisfied (Everett asked for a superhero cake but I'm not good enough to freehand Wolverine with frosting).

Everett and Ashley play really well together, even when they mix horses and superheroes.  I just took this picture:  Everett has a lot of his superheroes out on the table right now and he and Ashley are coming up with elaborate scenarios.

Everett's favorite of the figurines is Wolverine, of course.  Once Ashley grabbed Jean Grey and announced, "Look Everett, they can get married!!!"

Everett was offended.  "NO.  Wolverine doesn't marry anyone."

We've heard a lot about what Wolverine does and doesn't do.  This morning Joel gave me a long kiss before he left for work.  Everett was appalled.  "EEeewwww!  Just kiss on the cheek, you guys!"  I told Everett that we were married so we can kiss each other on the lips, to which he replied, "Well, if Wolverine was married he would still only kiss on the cheek."

And there you have it--wisdom from a five-year-old.  We love this sweet boy and are so glad he is in our family.  Everett truly is my special helper.  He is great at doing chores and is happy to help me by running to fetch things for me.  He also is very caring toward his younger siblings and I know he will do great with the new baby as well.

Waiting Games

William always seems to know when it is about time for Joel to get home from work.  Because we have a one-car garage, Joel parks his car in front of the house, which means William has a great view of him through the big picture window in our living room.

Often William camps out here and watches for Papa's car.  Most of the time he is alone but occasionally one of the other kids joins him.

Once Joel does come home, William laughs and laughs and runs right into his arms.  I don't ever get tired of watching his enthusiasm.

Everett likes a different approach.  He and Ashley drag the mattress off the toddler bed, strip it of sheets, and bring it down to use as a barricade by the front stairs.  Then they ask me to get Joel's nerf gun (his Father's Day present this year) out, load it up, and then the three of them sit and wait.

Everett gets antsy and has to peek over the top often.

Then finally Joel arrives and the ambush begins!

But the kids always underestimate Joel's strength and are genuinely surprised when he can push through their cushy barricade.

Lots of laughs, lots of noise, lots of chaos and running around.  That's the way it goes around here!

New Beds

We decided to get Everett a bunk bed and move Ashley into his old bed.  We figured that in a couple of years we will have three kids who need regular-sized beds, so getting a bunk bed now makes more sense than getting another twin when we want a bunk bed eventually anyway.

Well, the kids are a fan of the new arrangement.  Everett sleeps on the top of his bunk bed (surprise, surprise).  He was so excited the first night he slept up there that he didn't even care if I tucked him in or not.  This was a big deal, people.  This is something I've been doing for him every night for almost five years now, and Everett is always insistent that I be the only one to perform this ritual.

Here is the boys' room with the bunk bed.  The new baby will sleep in here with Everett since he is our soundest sleeper by far and will need his room less often than anyone else.  Of course, if this arrangement doesn't work, we could always put all three kids in here and keep the baby by himself (or a number of different combinations).

Ashley and William now share this room.  No, William does not care if he sleeps on a purple pillow and uses a pink quilt, but he does care that the giant stuffed animal dog is in bed with him.  Usually we find him laying across the dog instead of on his pillow.  

William has adjusted pretty well to being in a toddler bed.  He has only been using it for a couple of days but he runs to it now when we tell him it is time for bed.  It does take him quite a while to get settled down at night, which means he keeps Ashley awake.  Since we don't have any toys in this room there is not much for him to get into, and I think in time he will just accept that this is time for sleep.

Ashley loves having a big bed.  You can't see it in the picture, but she chose purple sheets for her bed.  The quilt currently on her bed was a wedding present from my Grandma.  It looks pretty cute in there but I did promise Ashley that I would make her a bedspread similar in style to Everett's rocket ship one.  She wants a horse on it.  This sounds trickier than I can manage but we'll see.

We just repainted the trim and walls in this room.  It was pretty bad before.  The dark wood trim was in terrible shape and the walls were taupe on the top and bright blue on the bottom once we removed the hospital-grade wallpaper.  But there is only a chair rail along three sides of the room.  What do you think we should do with the plain wall?  Paint it somehow, like with a full-wall stencil?  Find some large artwork?  Leave it alone?  Install a new piece of molding to mach the existing chair rail?  If you have any ideas at all, I'd love to hear about them because I am fresh out!