Law School...

Leon just got his acceptance letters to both Michigan and Columbia Law schools!! Congrats Mr. Johnson your girls are so proud of you!!  

Goals

This year The Johnson family decided to set goals for the year and for each month. Our goals consisted of everything from losing all the baby weight (me) to reading the entire standard works (Leon).  We even decided to set goals for baby girl.  One of Leon's goals for Ellie was to sit up on her own.  I thought that might be a little out of reach for our roley poley. And lets be honest I want her to stay a little baby forever. But this is what happens when the Johnsons set goals...

So we went to the zoo...

Ellie turned four months this past weekend so we decided to take a family trip to the zoo. The little misses fell asleep basically right when we got there but she got to see all of the wild life phoenix had to offer.  We decided to try out her baby carrier so she could see all the animals.  Although it killed Leon's back she was loving it...especially the way it tasted.  I know its weird but the girl sucks on anything and everything she can get her hands on.  She especially loves Daddy's fingers and mommy's arms.
We met up with a friend of mine from PA school who has a son six weeks older than the girl.  It was so fun to see them interact. Miles, the son of my friend, was so interested in her trying to touch her and get her attention.  And Ellie was not having it.  She could care less that he was pulling out all the baby stops to get her attention all she wanted to do was suck those fingers lol.
Leon also got some big news while we were looking at Timon and Pumba. We found out he received his first acceptance letter to law school!! Yay! NYU is an awesome school and we are so proud of him. We are still waiting on his top picks but he feels so good to know he is in.  And come on NYU is not too shabby if I do say so myself...maybe I can make friends with Blair Waldorf.

Here are a few pictures of our adventure for your viewing pleasure.
love The Johnsons

Ellie Lately

My sweet angel two months

This is Ellie's best friend

I love those sweet lips

Ellie meeting Santa for the first time

Those cheeks get bigger everyday...I love it

So here are a few more recent pics of my little peanut.  I'm so happy to be half way done with my academic year and back with the joy of my life.

The little one has started to notice her hands and toes.  She is always wanting to suck on those precious little phalanges. It kinda drives me nuts. Especially when you are trying to get a good smile for her three month pictures.

She is getting so fun too. She is always smiling and really loves music. I've been trying to learn some christmas songs on the paino and Ellie and I sing Picture a Christmas just about everyday together lol.

Well hope you enjoy the sweet pictures and have a merry Christmas

Love,
The Johnsons

Dear Ellie

Dear Ellie,

I just wanted you to know I was thinking about you today.  I was thinking about our life together and how grateful I am for you.  I was thinking about how much I love to cuddle you.  How you always smell like heaven and sound like an angel.  I love the way you sigh at night and sometimes giggle in your sleep.  Those sleepy smiles are my favorite.  I love your big blue eyes and how they sparkle in the sun.  I love how you sneeze every time we walk outside.  I even love the way you gulp down your bottles like you are a starving baby even though you just ate an hour ago.

I want you to know I can't wait until we get to play together everyday.  I sometimes panic about how fast you are growing up.  I think about when you start school and what I am going to do without you all day. But it makes me happy to think about making after school treats with you and finding out what your favorite things to cook and eat are.  I can't wait to pack your lunches and kiss that sweet little mouth when I drop you off at school everyday.  When you come home I promise to spend every second with you.

 I will encourage you to do what ever sport you would like and will probably sign you up for dance and piano whether you like it or not. But I also promise to sit with you and help you learn to play and listen to you and tell you how good you are getting and how proud of you I am.  I will never miss a recital or a game.  I will be the loudest mom there and I hope you don't get embarrassed and understand that I am just a cheerleader at heart.  There will never be a moment in your life that you won't be able to count on me for anything. You are the one person in the world I would literally give up everything for.

I want you to know that learning is something I love.  I will always read books to you and do puzzles with you and take you to museums.  I hope you love to travel and learn about new places as much as I do because we will do a lot of that together.  I can't wait to take you to London and show you my favorite places in the world.  I will let you feed the swans at Kensington gardens and take you to see all the beautiful castles.  I will tell you about all of the kings and queens and leave out all of the gory dark stuff until you are older.  We will play at Holland park and ride the tube all around the city.  You will love the big red buses and the water fountain in front of the national gallery (you are allowed to swim in it during the summer ;) ) I will always be there to help you with your homework, but don't be mad when I seem like I know everything.  Sometimes I do that and I am working really hard to stop.  I will always push you to do your best and tell you anything is possible.  I hope you know that little one...anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

I also want you to know I love reading scriptures with you.  You are my little love and inspire me everyday.  I hope you know I love the gospel and always will.  Don't ever make plans on Monday night and Yes you are going to mutual...no matter how much homework you have.  Prayers are where you find strength my love.  They will become more and more important as you grow.  I can't wait to hear your sweet prayers and when you get older and life gets harder I can't wait to hear your humble heartfelt prayers.  I always pray for you.  I know Heavenly Father loves you and will listen and answer your prayers when the time is right.

Ellie I want you to know that sometimes I cry too.  Sometimes I'm not strong.  Sometimes I hurt.  Sometimes I'm scared.  But also know that no matter how many tears I cry or how bad I'm hurting that I know Heavenly Father loves me and that I'm not going to give up. However long and hard the road may be I will never give up.  I hope I can teach you to never give up as well. Know that there are somethings you can change and there are somethings you can not change.  It takes a long time to figure out how to differentiate between the two, but it is very important to do.  Have courage my dear child to stand up for what is right. Know that you are a daughter of God and that you are the jewel of my heart. Also know that you are the reason I wake up every morning.  You are the last face I see when I go to bed at night.  If you weren't real I don't think I could make up someone so perfect for me.  I am amazed at how much Heavenly Father loves me...he gave me you.  After all the mistakes I've made and all my imperfections...he gave me you.

I think sometimes about how everyone is someone's "ellie".  About how we all are Heavenly Father's "ellies".  It gives me perspective on the love that God has for us all.  I hope you treat others with respect and kindness.  I hope you know your worth and that you are confident in all that you do.  I hope that you never quit. I hope that you live a life that you are proud of.  I hope others can see Christ through you. I hope that you are honest.  I hope you are happy. I promise to do everything I can to give you a great life and to teach you about laughing, love, books, medicine, dancing, singing, forgiveness, and all the other things that I hold as important gifts of life.  Never forget that I will never stop loving you.  You make my days bright and my nights sparkle.

Love Mommy

Ellie will be three months tomorrow.  I can't believe how time has flown. She is seriously the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am so grateful to have this little pumpkin in my life. I know I have been a horrible blogger but here is what has been going on with the members in our family. The mama has finished almost two and a half semesters of school! I officially have only eighteen months of school left.  We have been going through a quick two week course that has been from seven until five everyday on urology and neurology. I honestly sit in class and think about the little one everyday.  I have been able to keep my grades stable and am getting through just fine considering my role as a new mama. The little one has been very busy growing.  She spends most of her free time catching up on Z's and having the world oooo and ahhhh over her.  She loves to take baths still and kicking and giggling are her favorite.  Aunt Kelsie has been teaching her about the piano and music and she is loving listening to her auntie sing.  I've been trying to teach her all the best Christmas songs but she seems more interested in Flo Rida and Rhianna.   She doesn't like tummy time and loves getting walked around the house. She pretty much sleeps through the night and the mornings with the princess are the best!! She will open her beautiful blue eyes and just smile at you.  Her laughs are contagious and she seriously just makes anyone around her happy.  Its hard not to just love her. At her doctor's appointment a few weeks ago she weighed 11 pounds 6 ounces and was 24 inches long.  Everyone keeps saying she is so tiny but she is getting bigger and bigger everyday.  I wish there was a way to keep her tiny forever.  I am so sorry that i have no new pics on my computer due to a lack of a camera cord, but no worries we will fix that soon. Just wanted to give you all a quick update so you know that we are alive and well.
Love
The Johnsons

One Month

The life of Ellie Callait Johnson has officially hit one month today.  The little princess is still the most perfect baby ever.  She now cries a little more than she used to. Heaven forbid she might be realizing that this is how she gets what she wants lol. Her days are spent lounging around the house being waited on hand and foot. When she is not reading Russian fairy tales with Dad she is reading pathophysiology with mom. She loves to read books, but unfortunately she doesn't look at the pictures too well in her kid books just yet so she is read books like Bates guide to physical examination and Sean Hannity's political pieces. By the time this little gal is three she will be able to give a complete physical and talk to you about the problems in the American government...in both english and russian haha. We have started referring to her as our little democrat because she gets in moods where she wants her food and she wants it now.  And she will only take it from the bottle because she doesn't want to work for it. Lately we have broken her of that deadly mind set. At one month she is eating about three or four ounces at every setting, she smiles when you play with her bottom lip, she loves to cuddle (sometimes she will cry and the only thing she wanted was to be laying on someones tummy), she still has clogged tear ducts and her eyes water and get goopies a lot, she likes to grunt all night long (and I mean loudly...she grunts really loudly she could wake up the neighbors), she loves bath time and kicking her legs around in the water, she also loves to stretch, she likes to sing ABCs with mom (and jaxon or carder), she likes to sleep on her dads chest and when she is taken off that claimed bed of hers she will always wake right up.  We could not ask for a better child.  She honestly is the reason behind everything I do. She motivates me to get through the day because I know if I do I get to come home to her sweet face. I hope one day she realizes how hard I have worked and what I have accomplished and knows that anything is possible in this world.  Everything in life that I have been through seems so bland compared to each day I spend with her. I love her with all my heart and am beyond grateful to be her mother.  Speaking of mothers my good friend Katie also had her baby Camden Olivia.  She is two weeks younger than Belly and they got to meet for the first time today.  They are going to be best friends as Katie and I truck through PA school. This is their first picture together.

Its amazing how big she looks in comparison. I hate that she gets bigger and bigger everyday. I wish there were a way to keep her this small forever.