I am NOT bored...

I always tell Reed to never say he's bored. If he does, I give him something to do. He never likes the task (cleaning his room ,etc.) so I can probably count on one hand how many times he's told me he's bored. Do you all remember my last post and how I said I was bored? Well, God has taught me a little lesson.

I left the house this morning at 8:45 to take both boys to the doctor. They are both still coughing and I wanted to get Dr. Simpson to check Hudson's ears to make sure the infections are gone. Our appointment was at 9:15. I knew there was still some residual ice outside on our porch, so I asked Brian to carry Hudson to the car for me. Good thing, I slipped on some ice, fell and hurt my wrist. (I'm fine now, it just hurt at the time.)

Susan offered to meet me at the office to help with the boys. We waited about 30 minutes and they took us to the examining room. Dr. Simpson came in and after hearing about her trip to Washington DC for the inauguration (maybe I would've cared more if both boys weren't sick), we got on with it. I told her what was going on and she asked if I had called last week about Hudson. I said yes I had, but she wasn't there. She asked if I called her cell phone. I said no, that the nurses referred us to the urgent care clinic or Cook's so I took him to urgent care. She said (in almost a hurried, strained voice) "They didn't give him steroids, did they?' Ummmm, yes... Then she said "That doc is giving out steroids like candy. It's fine for adults, but I don't know why he's giving them to all these kids." This is the point where I proceeded to tear up and cry. Dr. Simpson said "Oh, no, don't feel bad - it won't hurt him, but it just didn't do anything. It may have made a slight improvement, but it didn't fix anything." Fan-freakin-tastic. Glad I spent $140 on a visit to urgent care & medicine that we didn't need. Needless to say, my children will not be going back there. So, the doc examined him and said that not only did he still have both ears infected, but whatever started his coughing is viral (never heard that from the clinic doc). Hudson's pulse-ox. was supposed to be above 95 and it was at 88, so they decided to give him a breathing treatment. And that was just a barrel of fun. By the time it was over, I was sweating from trying to fight his little body to keep the mask over his face. On the other hand, he sounded GREAT after we were done! So, we were sent home with a nebulizer machine and antibiotics for both boys (Reed also had an ear infection). You would think that would be enough for a morning...

We drove to Brian's shop to get my cell phone that I had forgotten and then back to CVS. I thought this would give them plenty of time to have the medicine ready. We went in and I picked up some things we were low of (juice and such). Went to the pharmacy and low and behold "We don't have anything for you - nothing has been called in." SERIOUSLY? I called the doctor's office, the nurse said they had called it in, but they would fax it over also. This was at 11:30 or so. We walked around a little more. Hudson wanted out of his stroller to walk. He had to touch everything and tried his best to reach that goal. By this point, all three of us are hungry and tired. A little boy that we saw at the doctor comes in and sits beside us and he and Reed were so much alike - it gave me a glimpse of what it would be like to have twins (Thank you Lord for knowing my limits!). They played and laughed. Time wore on...I was becoming very annoyed and then they finally called our name. I had a basket full of stuff, so I just paid for the meds and took the rest up front since the line was so long behind us. So, I'm paying for the juice, etc. and Reed says "Mom, I need to go to the bathroom." Without even looking at him, I said "You'll just have to hold it." We paid, got in the car and the clock said 12:46... OH MY GOODNESS!!!

So, it's Thankful Thursday, right? This is the best I can do.

• I'm thankful my doctor is back.
• I'm thankful the breathing treatments worked so well for Hudson. We just did another one and he didn't hardly fight me at all.
• I'm thankful I didn't yell at anyone at CVS. It was certainly a possibility.

And Lord, point taken. I am no longer bored. :)

It's official...

...I'm bored. I have been out of the house 2 times since last Monday - once to take Hudson to the clinic and today we went to Sonic.  That's it.  On the upside, since we have been home so much the last few days, the house is clean. Laundry is done, beds are made, floors are vacuumed, and "Swiffered", bedrooms cleaned, clutter put away bathrooms cleaned and tonight's dinner has been planned.  Well, if I didn't have kids with coughs (still), I'd go somewhere! Oh, wait...it's 32 degrees outside!  Grrrr.   

Yum Yum!

We had ravioli tonight for dinner.  I think Hudson enjoyed it.

Thankful Thursday

I was going to title this post "When it rains, it pours" but decided to give it a positive spin and make it my Thankful Thursday.  Hudson woke up coughing this morning and it has been quite a day. Here goes.

• I called Dr. Simpson, the boys pediatrician, this morning to make an appointment. The nurse told me that she is on the medical team for the inauguration and won't be back until Tuesday. Um, okay.....  So, she said they are referring all patients to the urgent care clinic. So, I am thankful for our urgent care clinic.  The doctor was very nice, had a great bedside manner and made me feel very comfortable. I wouldn't hesitate to take either of my children there again.
• The clinic doesn't take insurance, but I got receipts and such so I could file with our insurance company.  I am thankful that we have the resources to pay for the clinic and it is not a worry as to how we will get the money.
• Turns out, Hudson has croup, ear infections and the beginnings of an upper respiratory infection.  Yippee-skippee.  I am thankful for a competent doctor who genuinely cared about the well-being of my child.
• We waited at CVS for almost 40 minutes for his three different medicines. I am thankful I am able to go into a store and get medicine.
• Reed is feeling much better.  I am thankful that Brian is willing and able to watch him at the shop so I could concentrate of Hudson at the clinic.

What a day - but boy, I am thankful!

Here we go again...

Well, we had at least a few days of everybody being well.  Reed is sick.  He started out with a cough Monday morning and it was worse by that night.  He made sure to insist that he felt fine only to take a 2 hour nap that afternoon.  The cough was worse on Tuesday and a raspy voice was thrown into the mix.  He still insists that he's fine, but I would disagree just because of the snotty sleeve that is used to continuously wipe his nose.  UGH.  I can tell he's just not 100%, so we have been taking it easy.  Luckily, the house is pretty much clean so we've been hanging out today snuggling on the couch watching TV.  It's been nice to have such an easy pace, but at the same time, I am ready to get out of the house like a normal person!

Just to give you an idea - I haven't been to Sonic for my Vanilla Diet Coke in 2 days.  It's bad, people.  BAD.

Happy 32nd Birthday, Brian!

 I know he wouldn't want me to make a big deal, but I want to wish my sweet hubby a happy birthday today!

My baby is walking...

...like a madman.  It's really evolved over the last few days from walking two to three steps to 10 or 15 feet.  We went to Brian's parents house and he walked about 20 feet at a pretty good pace.  It's so sweet to see, but I am not ready for it!!  

The good 'ol days...

I just got Hudson up from his nap and we were in the recliner while he drank his bottle.  Reed kissed him on the head and said "I love you, Hudson."  It was just so sweet and I said "Reed, do you even remember what it was like before your brother was here?"  In all seriousness, he said "Funner." Laughing, I asked him why and he said "We didn't have to take him everywhere and watch him all the time, he didn't scream in the car wash and he wasn't here to cry and so you'd give him all my stuff to play with."

Full of Gratitude Friday

I missed Thankful Thursday this week, so now we has Full of Gratitude Friday.  Hey, it's the best I could do... :)

• My dishwasher.  I've been running that thing ragged.  I cringe to think what it would be like not to have it. I'm pretty sure if I didn't have one, we would be keeping Chinet and Dixie Cups in business.
• My cell phone.  I have gotten so used to having one around, I feel a little panicked if I happen to leave it at home. 
• Our church cookbook.  I am a creature of habit.  I tend to make the same 20 meals over and over again.  At bunco this week, Alisha made 5 things - all recipes out of our church cookbook (that she so tirelessly put together).  I thought that was a fantastic idea, so I sat down Thursday morning and made a menu for the next two weeks and a grocery list to go along with it.  For the next 13 days, we are having recipes that I have never made before so we can get a little variety!!  (I made Kelly's Cranberry Chicken last night and it was easy and very good - Reed ate a whole chicken breast!)  Anyway, all that to say, it's nice to have a resource for good recipes that people will actually want to eat!
• Being well again!  I think I (or someone in my family) have/has been sick since the middle of December.  I'm glad that everyone is feeling back to normal. 
• My sweet husband and great kids.  I am thankful for having them every day.

First Birthday coming soon!!!

A while ago, a wrote a post about how I found invitation supplies on sale for Hudson's birthday.  This whole process was bitter sweet -  I love planning my kid's birthday parties and making the invitations are one of my favorite parts.  On the other hand, my baby is turning one.  Wow.  Well, before this post dissolves into more "I can't believe how big he is..." etc. an so on, I'll get to the point. 

Here are the fun invites:

I think they turned out super cute and what a deal for barely over a quarter each! 

When we get married...

Cami came over today so we could work on some baby shower invitations.  The kids were playing and as she and I stared at the computer screen trying to come up with the invitation wording, we heard the cutest thing.

Reed:  "Emory, do you know what I would do if I married you?"

Silence.  (Now remember that we aren't in the room, so we can't tell if she's listening to him or ignoring him completely).

R: "I would give you a ring.  A ring like my dad gave my mom. "  

It was VERY sweet!

The funniest part?  He's picking out his wife and she's already ignoring him.  :)

Sickness strikes again....

Just as Hudson was getting over his last bout of sickness, I woke up on Monday feeling not so great. Not awful, but not great either. On Tuesday morning, different story. With my pounding headache, pressure like none other right between my eyes and an itchy, sore throat - all I wanted to do was crawl between the sheets of my big 'ol bed with tissues stuck up my nostrils and sleep. The kicker is that I always get sick at the beginning of February. It has happened EVERY year for the last 5 or 6 years. Susan has opened my eyes to the evils of allergies and I think I finally have it figured out. There is something that comes out this time of year (Dr. Goodchild says mountain cedar) that I am allergic to. It starts out as allergy symptoms, turns into headaches and green snot from the devil (A.K.A a sinus infection) that works its way down into my chest and turns into bronchitis. I was going to try to keep from getting it, so on Susan's advice, I was taking Claritin daily. So despite all of my efforts to prevent it, I guess the mountain cedar decided to release some spores about a month early and here I am with the same February illness, only in January!! Anyway, Tuesday morning, I called the doctor and got an appointment as soon as I could. So, this begins my list of Thankful Thursday...a bit early.

• I am thankful that I got into the doctor quickly, got medicated and am feeling better this evening than I have since Sunday night!!
• I am thankful that my children have such awesome grandma's. Susan came and watched the boys for me while I went to the doctor. When I got back, she was planning on leaving to go exercise and I could tell that she didn't want to until Hudson was down for his nap so that I could rest. It was very sweet. Then my mom took the boys about lunchtime to spend the night with her. I think one of the major reasons that I feel better is that I've been able to sleep like crazy and not chase after two children! Anyway, don't know what I would do without Gammy & Mimi - I am VERY blessed.
• Antibiotics and cough medicine.
• Brian. Needless to say, over the last few days laundry has not been done and the kitchen looked like it belongs to a college frat house. When we got home from church tonight, Brian not only had loaded the dishwasher, but he was vacuuming. He very well could have come in from work (after a 10 hour day today) and sat down and watched TV. But instead, he chose to do something to help me out - without my asking - and little things like that mean the world to me.
• Reed and I read some of Charlotte's Web tonight before bed. I so enjoy the quiet time when he is calm and we can lay together and do something so simple and sweet as ready a story. I cherish these times so much - my boys are both getting so big and I am so thankful that God gave them to me.

Our internet wasn't working all day yesterday and some of this morning and I tell you what...I have felt so left out!  I didn't realize how used to jumping on the internet I was!  And e-mail...can you possibly know what's going on in the world without e-mail???  I think not!  Anyway, after realizing that I am very spoiled with the internet (and I am okay with that), I am back in the land of the living and ready to continue on...

Today Hudson is 11 months old.  I am in a little bit of denial.  I CANNOT believe how fast this time has flown by.  It's bittersweet to me - knowing he is (hopefully) our last makes me sad to think that we'll never another tiny baby.  On the other hand, Hudson wasn't all that tiny anyway. But seriously, the newborn baby things - breastfeeding, missing sleep, lugging that awkard, heavy carseat around, etc. - will not be missed.  The boys are really beginning to play together and the stages that they are in now are really a lot of fun.  I feel like our family is complete and although it's hard for things to be going by so quickly,  I'm trying to enjoy each day and look forward to the fun things to come.

Good-Bye 2008...

I can't believe a new year is about to begin! So much has happened and it seems like it has all flown by in a nanosecond. I am finding that as I get older, each year goes by faster...uh-oh. :) In 2008, so many things happened! In just our immediate family -

• Reed became a big brother! Our second born son arrived weighing in at 9 pounds and 2 ounces. Hudson is such a sweet boy and I'm so glad God picked me for his mom.


• Reed turned 4.


• My cake "business" began.


• My sweet niece Grace was born!


• Brian turned 31, I turned 29 and we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary (12 years together!!)

I thank God for such a good year and hope that 2009 will bring much happiness, many blessings and joy to you all. Happy New Year!

Johnson Christmas

Yesterday we had our Christmas with my parents. I just realized that I didn't take a single picture all day!!! We had such a fun time. We had our Christmas lunch and just spent the day talking and visiting. We took the Wii and even made Uncle Brandon his own "Mii" (the characters on the Wii that you can choose to play your games with). The Mii is quite scary - just like the real Uncle Brandon! :) Last night we opened gifts and even though I was not supposed to have anything (my mom had already bought me the dining chairs for my new table) I got a new cake plate and some other fun things. One of my favorites? An atomic alarm clock that projects the time onto the ceiling! Am I the oldest 29 year old you know??? Probably so. It doesn't help that I'm married to the oldest 31 year old...