Pics

A bunch of random pics from somewhat recently...

 7-23: Playing with Dad

7-23: Family Pic

 8-2: Family trip to the zoo

 8-2: Having a snack together

 8-5: Splashing

 8-9: Cheese

 8-9: Love for Maggers

 8-15: 5 Year Check-up 

8-22: Home after my quick trip to KC

Branson Vacation

As I mentioned previously, we took a vacation to Branson July 27-31.  We went with Troy's parents and brother and sister-in-law to celebrate Lowell's 70th birthday.  We stayed at the Stillwaters Resort which was located right on Tablerock Lake and about 15 minutes outside of Branson.  It was a great place!  Each family had their own room and we all had kitchenettes.  Our first day we basically just checked-in, unloaded the car and we played in two of the pools--Luke went down the water slide countless times.  We had dinner in our room with everyone.

Our other activities included:

*Riding the Ducks--Luke and Hannah loved the quackers we all got.

*Going to the Dixie Stampede show--this was really fun.  We all really enjoyed the show.  Luke loved watching all the horses.

*Playing golf--as part of Lowell's present, the guys including Luke played golf on a really nice course.

*Playing miniature golf--Luke's loves to play any type of golf; we all really enjoyed this too.

*Pool time--this was mostly Troy and Luke going down the water slide; there were 3 pools and one had the water slide, one was an adult pool and the other was fun for the whole family.  We did enjoy the family pool a couple of times too.

*Jet skiing--Troy, Todd and I split an hour on a jet ski.  Troy had never been on one and so we rode together for a bit and we all had time alone as well.  It was super fun!

*Cave touring--before everyone else left (we stayed an extra day), we went on a tour of the cave I used to work at the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college.  Troy has been before but I really wanted Luke to see it.  It was a really wet tour because of all of the rain Branson has had.

(yes, I did remember to take my glasses off)

Random Stuff

Okay, blogging has taken a back seat lately.  I'm okay with that but here are a bunch of things that have been floating around in my head and happening recently.

*Luke had his 5 year check-up last week.  He weighed 39 pounds (34%) and is 42 1/2 inches tall (39%).  He is definitely on the smaller side for his age but his growth curve is perfect and the doctor was happy with his progress.

*Hannah really has enough hair now to see lots of ringlets in the back if it's really humid or she's hot.  I LOVE IT!!!!  My mom says it reminds her a lot of my hair.

*Troy is really loving his new group at work.  He loves the science aspect of looking for prospects and doing the research (I wouldn't like to do that part at all so I'm really glad he likes it).  We have all been enjoying that he gets to be home around 5:15 too.

*Last weekend we were near Branson celebrating the wedding of Kristi and Kevin.  They had a perfect sunset ceremony outside at their house with basically just family.  We are thrilled for them and wish them much happiness.

*We also spent the last weekend in July in Branson with Troy's parents and his brother and sister-in-law.  We were celebrating Lowell's 70th birthday.  The weather was surprisingly perfect or even a bit chilly.  We had many fun times and I'm hoping to do a post about the trip with pics soon.

*My mom and sister have both recently spent some time with us in OKC.  It's always fun for the kids to have an extra playmate around and I enjoy getting a few more things done.

*Both kids will start "school" the week after Labor Day.  Luke is very excited about going back; Hannah has no clue what's about to happen; and I am also very excited about having a few days a week to myself to get things done.

*This weekend I am going to the scrapbook convention in Tulsa.  I'm leaving early tomorrow morning and will be back late Saturday afternoon.  I get to stay in a hotel room all by myself.  Let me say that again, I get to stay in a hotel room all by myself.  Yes, I'm really looking forward to it :)

*On a sad note, my Uncle Jim passed away on Monday.  He hasn't been feeling well for about a month but the doctors determined last Thursday that he had stage four lung cancer.  We are very grateful that he passed quickly and didn't suffer much and that he is now in a better place.  I am in KC today for the funeral.

I hope to have some time this weekend while I'm alone in my hotel room to blog and get some pics posted of our recent adventures.

First Trip to the ER

Before I start, I would just like to say that I specifically titled this post as the "first trip to the ER" because I have no doubt there will be more.  

If you know my kids, it wouldn't be hard to guess which one had their first trip to the ER this morning. Hannah is fearless, thinks she's as capable as big brother and is always pushing our boundaries for her.  This is also no surprise if you know Hannah.

So, this morning I'm taking a shower (actually half way through shaving one leg) when Troy comes running in yelling at the top of his lungs, "Get out of the shower now!"  I didn't understand the urgency until I saw the blood.  It was all over the top half of Hannah's pj's and on Troy's arms.  Needless to say, the shower ended rather quickly.  Hannah had fallen/lost her balance/ran backwards into the fireplace and had a puncture wound in the back of her head.  Troy and I quickly came to the conclusion that I would be taking Hannah to the ER.  

After gathering a few necessities, Hannah and I were off.  I have to say that Hannah calmed down fairly quickly after I got out of the shower and seemed perfectly okay.  She didn't seem bothered that there was a hole in the back of her head--she's one tough kiddo.  So we get to the ER and check-in.  Thankfully, we were the only ones there and we were back in a room within 5 minutes.  After a few triage things, the doctor comes in, cleans off the blood a bit to get a better look and says she needs staples.  I have to say I cringed.  He explained that to numb it would take 3-4 sticks and the staples would only be 2 so numbing it really wasn't worth it.  I cringed a whole lot more but agreed.  

The doctor and nurse leave the room for a few minutes and I tried to prepare myself for major screaming and tears maybe on two fronts.  When they came back, the doctor thought it would be best for me to lay down on the bed, holding Hannah tummy to tummy while the nurse held her head.  The screaming and wiggling started immediately as I knew it would.  It took what seemed like an eternity for the doctor to get positioned to put in the staples--I'm sure it was no more than a few seconds.  And then he put in the staples.  And I have never, never heard a child, mine or anyone else's, scream like that.  I managed to keep it together and not cry but I was shaking for sure.  Hannah was a trouper but seriously she broke some blood vessels in her face because she was screaming so loud and hard.  She again calmed down rather quickly and we were able to leave a few minutes later.  

We got home to a worried dad and brother but after some hugs and tylenol Hannah seemed to be okay.  Of course, she was fussy and it seemed if she moved her head the wrong way it would bother her but I was impressed with her overall resilience.  Grandma and Grandpa H. stopped by with a balloon which definitely brightened her mood.  But Hannah still did want extra mom time and snuggles but that's understandable.  She didn't eat a very good lunch, also understandable, and I wasn't sure she would be able to fall asleep on her own for a nap but she did.  Hannah slept for almost 3 hours and was pretty grumpy and whiny when she woke up, again understandable.  Grammy was here by the time she woke up and that seemed to cheer her up a bit.  

The rest of the day went fairly well and she's now sleeping away.  I have to get up once during the night to check on her just to make sure that everything is okay although there have been no indications of a concussion up to this point.

I am still cringing when I look at the back of her head and see the 2 staples.  It's completely unnatural and not at all normal especially for an almost 20 month old.  I'll be very glad when they are gone and the wound is healed.

 We didn't take the time to change out of pj's before heading to the hospital.

 Such a small girl on a big hospital bed.

 Before the staples

Just awful :(

Being 5

Luke has been 5 for almost a month now.  He has been saying a lot of things like, "Now that I'm 5..." and "Because I'm 5 I can...."  He's such a big kid now.  He is very independent and definitely has his own opinions on how things should go or be.  He is artistic, a jokester, adventurous, a big time home body, sensitive and an awesome big brother.  And I couldn't forget to mention he's such a handsome guy!

 

Life for Lukester:

*Schedule: Luke LOVES to sleep!  Really and truly he loves it.  He doesn't like to be awake before 8 and at least 2-3 times a week I have to wake him up at 9.  He isn't taking a nap anymore although on days when we've had a big morning he will occassionally sleep while Hannah is napping.  He definitely has some down time in the afternoon though.  He goes to bed between 8:15 and 8:45.  

*Stats: Luke has his 5 year check up this week at the doctor and we'll get his official stats then.  My scale says he weighs about 40 pounds and a height estimate is around 42" tall.  Luke has had a lot of growing pains in his legs during the summer and relatives have all commented that he seems taller.  And one more note, Luke's hair grows really fast!  He has to have a haircut about every 5-6 weeks.

*Food: Luke's eating habits are probably pretty normal for a 5 year old.  I wish he would eat more of a variety of fruits and vegetables but he does okay.  Some of his favorites: roasted chicken, polish sausage, tilapia, salmon, shrimp, cantaloupe, green apples, corn on the cob, fried okra, green beans, carrots, noodles of any kind (except mac n cheese), pepperoni pizza, cheese, pancakes, french toast and chocolate milk.

*Activities: Luke still loves his trains and has now started incorporating Legos.  Our gameroom floor is covered with a Lego city and train track pretty much constantly.  Luke has also really gotten into art projects and drawing.  He loves to make melty bead projects and also necklaces.  This thrills me to death because that means I get to do all those fun things too!  Luke also really likes to read and will do so on his own now.  He and Troy have been reading the "How to Train Your Dragon" series.  Being outside is always fun and Luke got a bike for his birthday and has been riding that whenever possible.  He took swim lessons this summer and has really improved.  He loves to dive down for toys without his floaties on.

*Luke is writing all the letters of the alphabet.  He has also started sounding out words on his own and writing stories with pictures to go along with the story.  I love his progress in this area!  Luke can write with both hands; he is better with his right and so we encourage that but I'm 95% sure that he is ambidexterous.  

*Luke's imagination is still going super strong.  His stories revolve around robbers, firemen, policemen and his train engines.  He also loves to pretend that our swing set is a ship and there are sharks in the water (I remember doing exactly that when I was little too).  He is very slowly getting into super heros and all the Marvel characters.  We haven't pushed this at all and he's finally picked up on it enough from other kids to start mentioning it.  Troy and I are hoping he likes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since they're something we're a bit familiar with.

*Luke is a fantastic big brother!  He is always giving Hannah hugs and kisses.  He is especially helpful when we're in the car.  When he's in the mood, he loves to play with Hannah and have her interact in whatever he's playing.  They love to spread a blanket on the floor and dance together or do crazy gymnastic stuff.

*Luke does a great job of helping around the house.  He sets the table every night for dinner, lets Maggie in and out, picks up toys and does lots of other various tasks.

*He is becoming more and more independent.  About 2 months ago he started picking out his clothes on his own and getting dressed by himself.  He no longer needs our help at all in the bathroom except for the occassional reminder to flush and wash his hands.  He has started taking some showers although he still seems to prefer the bath tub.  He has been buckling his seat belt for a long time and a recent thing is now pushing a cart solo whenever we are shopping.

*Luke is a big time home-body.  I could ask him ten times if he wants to go out and about for the day and nine of the responses would be no.  My boy loves to be at home, hang out in his pj's all day and just play.  I can't really blame him; he takes after me greatly in that regard.  (This paragraph is exactly the same as last year's 4 year old post.  It hasn't changed in the slightest.)

*Luke's favorite TV shows include Word World and Sid the Science Kid.  He also loves to watch nature and animal shows.  We have been watching a bunch of "North America" lately.  Luke is an expert on many animals that live in North America and he loves learning new things about animals and nature.  (Maybe another scientist in the works here at the Johnson house.  He will tell you that he wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up.)

Birthday Party

We had Luke's birthday party the Saturday following his birthday.  This year we celebrated with a pool party.  Luke really had a great time playing with his friends.  Every child got a water gun and they were a big hit.  PawPaw making huge splashes was also a big hit.  After swimming for a while, we had lunch (more hot dogs plus goldfish crackers, fruit and veggies) and then cake and presents before swimming for a bit more.