Home sweet home

I lo-hu-ve that little belly (not so much the drool it kinda drives me crazy). And when you tickle it she laughs so hard your heart can't help but melt.

Ok so I just had to share that adorable picture of my munchkin before I started this post. I honestly just want to eat her up sometimes she is just so yummy.

At the end of February we decided to make a trip out to California for me to go through the temple. One word: Beautiful (but we will get to that later).  Every time I go home I get to see my to best friends from high school, stacia and sarah.  We have honestly been through so much together that I am so grateful to have them in my life.  They feel like sisters to me and I love them to pieces!

Ellie with my best friend from high school auntie Stacia

Ellie with Sarah and her adorable son Zander.

 After catching up with old friends our family headed to San Diego to spend the day in the temple.  There are no words to describe what a beautiful experience it was for me. I felt so close to my Heavenly Father and my testimony grew so much that day.  I love the church so much and am so grateful for the influence it is in my life.  I know without a doubt of its truthfulness and would never want to live a life without it. 

Going through the temple was honestly one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I'm so glad to have gotten to share it with the people who mean the most to me. 

Daddy loves his little girl

The next morning the family decided to take a nature hike up at the santa rosa plateau. This was Ellie's first hike.  She basically slept through it all but its a mile stone nonetheless.  Carder, Holli's baby, has recently been watching a lot of Tom and Jerry and when we found a little mouse on the hike he got really excited.  Leon wanted to get the mouse to move for Carder so he started poking at it.  Interestingly enough the mouse didn't move, it just let Leon poke at it. Then, all of a sudden, the mouse closed its eyes like it was going to sleep.  Weird. So they lost interest and started walking again. About thirty minutes later little Carder asks his mom, "Mom, did Jerry die?" Oh my gosh. The saddest little voice i about died.  Thankfully another mouse ran across the trail and Holli suddenly said, " Nope, there he goes".  Kids are so cute.

"Mom, did Jerry die?"

The Johnson Family

I. love. him.

To be more thorough... I. love. them.

All in all we had a great time in California.  I hope we can move there one day..wink wink. I miss the beach. But the adventures on the east coast are calling our names, so, for now, California, you are just a vacation spot.

Love,

The Johnsons

Just A Few Questions??

1. Can a human being survive off of brownies alone? Because lets be honest the pan of brownies on my kitchen counter that I made Sunday is basically gone. Can I admit that I am also the only one here this week to do the damage (don't judge me).


2. Would anyone even notice if I wore the same thing tomorrow that I wore today? Ok because really I'm sometimes too tired to get ready in the morning and lets be honest to all my classmates i'm just the frazzled new mom that wears her shoes on the wrong feet and only blow dries her crazy hair once a week.  I think people have stopped paying any attention to my appearance.


3. Is it ok if your best friend is six and a half months old? Because my Mom used to teach primary and we used to make fun of her for having friends that were little kids, but I think she was onto something. I mean  they love you unconditionally, always laugh at your funny faces, want to be around you all the time, they think you are the best thing that has ever happened to them, they listen to everything you say... I mean come on who can say that about a friend their own age? no one.


4. When you are a mom you never get a sick day do you? I'm pretty sure my eyes and nose have produced enough liquid to fill a small pool today and that this rubber band feeling around my head is going to make me scream.  But little Ellie does't skip a beat. There are things to get into and bottles to eat.  She is such a good cuddle bug though and she uses her little hands to play with my face as if she is trying to tell me, "Its ok Mom. You will be ok Mom"


5. When can i stop breastfeeding? I know, I know you do whatever is best for you, but come on there is so much pressure to continue breastfeeding I just don't feel like I can stop.  Not to mention my little diva hates formula and will just spit it out if you ever try to sneak it in her feeding schedule.  But can I tell you how hard it is to continue to have your hormones raging and rush home from school every chance you get to pump for baby girl.  Breast feeding is hard period. Add in a little PA school on the side and it is really hard.  But I would do anything for this little peanut and if five and a half more months is what she needs than five and a half more months is what she will get.


6. Will I ever be able to go somewhere without a bra again? Speaking of breastfeeding...my once perky chest has fallen and become more ploppy than perky, well, that is until its time for baby girl to eat then all of a sudden they grow two sizes. Pregnancy and nursing do wonders to the body :) But hey baby girl is well worth it.


7. Is there a word to describe my husband? Awesome.  I. love. him. Not to mention that I honestly don't think he even notices the aftermath of pregnancy on my little bod. Best man alive hands down. I know everyone says that about their one and only but without giving details I promise you there are very few men out there that are truly good men... and I married one of them.  Everyone deserves a Leon.


8. How long does it take for a cold to run its course? Oh yeah I know the answer to this question.  3-4 day if it is virally classified, which I'm sure mine is.


9. How many times can a person sneeze in a row? I watched one girl in the library the other day sneeze like ten or eleven times in a row. no joke. I can't stop sneezing. its horrible.


10. Could I ever love another baby as much as this one right next to me? I honestly can't imagine loving anyone more.  Let me rephrase that I don't think it is psychologically possible to love another human being more than I love Ellie. This little piece of heaven is the perfect end to my everyday. She makes my heart sing and my soul rejoice.  I thank the Lord everyday for putting this little angel spirit in my life.  She is everything good in this world wrapped into one very cute small package. I can't get enough of her. I think I am the most blessed little mama in the world.

Six Months Ago...

Ellie Callait Johnson was born. Weighing in at 7 pounds 1 ounce, this perfect little specimen changed our lives forever. She has been the reason and inspiration behind everything good in our world. Our little angel has taught me more in six months than I could ever even imagine learning in the first 22 years of my life. That firecracker smile that she has really makes everyone around her melt and submit to her every need. Her little personality is honestly just pure sweetness. She wants nothing more than to be loved and cuddled.

Ellie is the most amazing blessing that I have ever been given. She will wake up every morning with her "I love you" smile and her beautiful watery blue eyes. Yes, her right eye is still a full on faucet. But we love everything about our little Elles bells, even those goopey eyelashes. She is getting so good at rolling over and loves to stand and sit up. She is such a funny girl. Leon is working with her on scooting and he will move the blocks further and further away from her, but instead of moving toward the blocks she just figured out she can pull the blanket towards her and along comes the block. What a little smarty pants.

Ellie has been eating big girl food lately. She still makes a mess and probably more food gets on her body and the table than in her tummy, but she still loves it. Her favorite is oatmeal but she will eat rice cereal too. This week she is going to be introduced to peas. Yay. I think her favorite part is bath time after dinner. She gets so excited to get in the water and splash it all over the place. The shampoo and soap in the bath tub fascinate her and she wants to grab everything. Her yellow cheer ducky is her best friend in the tub and she cannot help but knaw ducky's head every chance she gets.

Ellie now probably weighs around fifteen pounds. She is 25 inches tall and growing everyday. Still very bald with a little bit of white/blonde hair that I can only dream to put back in a barrette or ponytail. Still no teeth (and still breastfeeding so for mommy's sake that is a good thing). And she is perfect. We are so happy and lucky to be Ellie's parents. There is nothing better than to come home to our little cuddle bug and her amazing giggle. We both love her more than life itself and are privileged to watch her grow and learn. The past six months have been the hardest yet the best six months of my life. i love you Ellie Belly! Thank you for filling my life with more love than I ever thought was possible and being my inspiration and motivation everyday. Happy 1/2 birthday sweet pumpkin bear :)

Harvard, Harvard, Harvard...

This is what you will hear being chanted around the Johnson home spontaneously as of late. 

 Leon was accepted to the Harvard Law class of 2014 last week!! 

We are so excited and proud of the Mr.!  

Boston here we come :) 

Spring time and Sunshine

One of my favorite things about Arizona is the weather.  As I think about my life just one year ago I cringe.  Everyday in the month of Febuary, I would wake up every morning put on my uggs, sweater, big winter jacket, gloves, and scarf.  I wouldn't dare face the Utah winter fury with more than the skin on my face exposed. I would stand at the Belmont bus stop at seven forty waiting patiently to see that UTA bus and the beautiful heater that it possessed. I would honestly curse the state of Utah for not realizing that the idea of spring means "get warmer" not "snow more". I swear the weather Gods would laugh as I cheaked the weather each morning hopeful for a little picture of a sun instead of the everpresent grey clouds.

And then Arizona happened to me. Now I leave the house much earlier and never even think about grabbing a jacket...not even a light one. i love the Arizona sunshine!!

With that said I would like to officially announce the beginning of my spring break.  About nine months ago I started what has turned out to be the hardest and craziest time of my life thus far...I like to call it PA school (when I'm in a good mood...). And as of a few hours ago, I realized that I passed all of my classes and have finished three hell-acious semesters of PA school... so I am in a very good mood. Woo hoo! I feel like a Junior in college again when you can see the light but yet you know you still have a long way to go. It has been quite the experiencece thus far and I will go ahead and suggest not having a child while in one of the hardest graduate programs there is. Enough said.

So with my birthday and our wedding anniversary on the horizon, Leo and I decided to take a much needed vacation to Hawaii.  We went online and ordered our own snorkel equipment and everything. I can still taste the Mexican soap and stank from the broken gear we rented from a sketchy mexi in cabo last year. So we decided to just become independent snorkelers. And since the sun was shining and spring break had officially started in the Johnson home we spent some time at the pool basking in the glory of the sun and trying out our snorkel gear.



Oh no another sun worshiper.  Too bad mommy wants to go into dermatology and pounded her with sunscrean before her pool adventure. No tan for you baby.




He absolutly loved that he could dive under the water and not get water in his equiptment. I guess he got us the good stuff lol. Don't worry Holli and Jake you can borrow it if you want lol




Daddy and Ellie...as you can see ellie refuses to look at the sun because it is just too too bright for those baby blues of hers. She also wants her dolphin toy that is in the corner haha.




The Mama with her hot  pink snorkle gear



Don't worry the break will be spent getting much rest and relaxation to gear me up for another two semesters. And get Leon in one last vacation before law school starts in the fall (still no decisions made about where we will be but he has lots of good options and I'm sure it will be somewhere cold).  Holli and Jake will be joining us on our Hawaiian adventure so we cannot wait to go.  The only sad thing is that Ellie is staying with Mimi and Jaxy.  Ellie is the best thing about my day everyday and we are going to miss her so much but it will be fun to do some grown up things this next week.

much love,

The Johnsons