seven

Lucky Lucky Seven.

Lucky Lucky ME.

SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS...

I'm 7 months old!!

I have said so many times that I want to just freeze Leah exactly as she is. Things have seemed so perfect and yet today, this very day, she is even more fun and charming than she was as that perfect little 6 month old. It's strange that just when I think that I couldn't be any happier or more in love with her, it happens and I am.

Seeing how I haven't figured out how to freeze her or bottle her up just exactly how she is... I want to remember all of the little details that I love so much about this perfect moment in time with my sweet, little 7 month old-

She is a fantastic eater. She continues to be a really great nurser but she's diggin' the real food!! She LOVES butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and brown rice. Avocados are quickly growing on her. She tolerates peas and green beans but she still pretty much hates oatmeal. (and after last weekends' binge and purge session, we're pretty much done trying to get her to like it. she wins.) We're loving making all of our own baby food and yummy concoctions. We're especially excited to start mixing fruits in this next month or so.

She is rolling all over the place. I can no longer leave her on a blanket on the floor, leave the room and expect that she will be anywhere near where I left her when I get back. She's fast and definitely on the move. She has figured out how to get where she wants to go by rolling and scooching.

She is sitting up on her own like a pro and loves the new view and perspective it gives her when she's playing with her toys. I love how proud she looks when she's sitting up and we're not right next to her.


She has both of her bottom teeth and they are pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen. Teething, so far atleast, has been much less traumatic (for all of us) than I expected it to be.

see how cute they are?

She is sweet and mellow most of the time. She is a very happy and good natured baby, however she has a temper and can in fact get really mad, really fast. She has a large vein on the top of her head that bulges and looks like it's going to explode when she gets mad or cries hard.

Her hair is still not growing very fast. It has lightened up a lot since she was born and although her bald spot has now grown in, she still doesn't have much! She is going to have wild hair when it does start growing... she has 2 matching cowlicks on the top of her head and hair grows literally in every direction back there. (I've joked that she is definately not going to need a bump-it)

She is a really great sleeper. She started sleeping through the night at 2 months and has never looked back. She typically goes down between 7:30-8:30pm and she wakes up like clock work between 7:00-7:30am.

Once she eats dinner, we read one book and then I put her in her crib with her little snuggly elephant and she rolls over and goes right to sleep. It's heaven.

Naps are much improved. Finally morning naps are pretty consistent and seem to be getting longer, usually between 2 - 4 hours. It's so great! She wakes up happy and giggly and rested! We usually get another much shorter afternoon nap, an hour to hour and a half if we're lucky! Finally a routine that I can live with!

She's super chatty. I love to watch her, when she doesn't know that I'm watching her. She talks to her toys and stuffed animals/dolls. Its so funny. She is also slightly obsessed with sticking her tongue out and spitting. A little gross, but ridiculously cute.

Her eyes are still really dark and constantly filled with wonder and awe. They say so much about her.


She loves peek a boo and patty cake and loves any songs with actions. I keep trying to get her to join in and start learning them with me, but she's not really interested. She's perfectly content to let me be foolish all by myself.


Leah got her first (and perhaps rare or only) taste of having a pet this past month and she was in heaven. We were able to puppy sit our neighbors' teacup yorkie for 5 days. Leah was fascinated with Coco and couldn't believe there was something smaller than her that moved and made noise. Coco, however, wasn't a big fan of Leah and pretty much just totally ignored her, all the while providing hours of entertainment to the littlemiss. It *almost*, but not quite made us reconsider being "pet people".

She is comfortably wearing 9 mos clothes, but she still has several 6 mos items that she can squeeze into. She is wearing size 3 diapers and has now nearly grown out of her baby bath tub. It's quite a sloppy ordeal to bathe her these days, although she still loves it. She kicks and splashes and squeals nearly the entire time.

I am obsessed with the soft skin on her neck. It's my favorite place to kiss and nibble her. I love her chubby dippled hands and the rolls on her ankles. The way she wiggled her fat toes constantly always makes me smile. I love kissing and tickling her rolly thighs and making her laugh hysterically.

I love when we're around other people, she smiles and gets excited and then gets shy and buries her face in my chest.

I love how excited she gets when Daddy gets home from work. The bond that these two have is hard to describe in words, but it's humbling for me to watch. Chris is such a good daddy.

I love seeing her figure out new things. I literally just watch her most of the day.

I love watching her smile when Grandpa is swinging her.

I love when she starts to get tired, she lays her head on my shoulder, snuggles me and plays with my hair. There is nothing in my day that is better.

And mostly, I just absolutely love being her mama.

a pretty good monday morning...

~it started with a pretty great weekend in which the girl marries her prince and the bad guy finally dies~

and now THIS:

a real, true, almost hard to believe SPRING forecast!

(one that doesn't include any real raindrops and is laden with 70 degree temps!)

Be still my beating heart!!

Easter Sunday

I have always loved Easter Sunday, my emotions always seem to run close to the surface as I contemplate all that we celebrate. This year was no exception.

Of course it started out with a few little surprises from the Easter Bunny (along with a little help from grandmas and aunties). Leah was lucky enough to score a few new little toys and books and lots of fun new feeding supplies!

Then it was time for dress-up! I figure most of the time we lounge in either pjs and leisure suits or our most comfy jeans around here, so if ever there was a time to get a little fancy... Easter Sunday was it.

After I got her dressed, Chris took one look at her and said

"WOW Ellejay... you're pretty fluffy today"

"Fluffy" wasn't necessarily what I was going for, but she was in fact fluffy. However, most of all she was beautiful and sweet and oh so very charming.

She was obsessed with the simple sequins on her dress and spent so much time studying them and touching them. Sometimes as I watch her doing sweet things like this, I just wish I could hit pause and stay that way for a bit longer. She's so sweet and curious and she's already growing up too fast. This little princess makes my heart feel like it might explode sometimes.

Church was beautiful and uplifting and edifying as always, but maybe even a little more so this particular Sunday as everyone's hearts and minds seemed tuned more intently to remembering our Savior and His miraculous resurrection. I sat there, with Leah snuggled up and fast asleep on my shoulder and tears rolling down my cheeks, as I listened to the most beautiful rendition of "I heard Him come" that I have ever heard. Ever. It was such a beautiful worship service. I left feeling so humbled and thankful.

For various reasons, it didn't work out to go be with either of our extended families this year, so we celebrated here at home with our own sweet, little immediate family. We feasted on this and of course this and enjoyed this yummy fresh side dish, all of which were unbelievably delicious. We capped it off with the best cupcake I've ever had, courtesy of the best neighbor I've ever had. YUM!



We finished the day watching this, which neither of us had ever seen. It was the hardest thing I have ever watched and am not certain that I would recommend it. I cried almost start to finish and covered my eyes through so much of it. What an incredible sacrifice, what immense suffering and what a beautiful gift it is in my life.

He conquered death and He lives today.

Of that, I know with a surety.




I hope your Easter Sunday was equally beautiful and meaningful.



XOX

(ps... any ideas or great recipes to use a ham bone? It's not something that I cook very often)

As it turns out... I'm not a good multi-tasker...

I'm sad and ashamed to show what has become of the plants of the C*K*J household. I freely admit that I've had to relax a bit and let a few things go these last 6 months. I've been a bit busy and pre-occupied, after all.

I know now, that waxing the floors and cleaning the baseboards can wait a bit.

Watering of plants, however... not so much.

{there are one or two that might be salvageable (like the ones that are next to impossible to kill), most however, have already met their maker}

******

I've had my moment of silence and am a ready to move on

because the good news is that, while my plants have been neglected,

this littlemiss has not:

and she's thriving!

(and let's be honest, she's waaayyy more rewarding than any plant ever was!)

change is in the air...

at least for now anyway.

::making the most of it::

Leah isn't wasting any time in her new life as a six month old!

This Week:

She's eating like a pro and loving nearly every spoonful...

She's finally sleeping un-swaddled and in her very own room at night

(a little bittersweet for mom)

and yesterday this cute little bug broke her

very first tooth!!!

(it's all a little too much too fast for this mamaroo)

six

six (6) months

twenty six (26) weeks

one hundred and eighty two (182) days

four thousand, three hundred and sixty eight (4368) hours

since I became a mother...

Looking at her snuggled up on my chest like that seems like a lifetime ago and yet it's gone by in the blink of an eye.

This has been without question the most amazing 6 months of my life.

It's strange how many conflicting emotions that come with being a mother....

It is so mundane and yet so unpredictable, so thankless yet so very rewarding, so difficult and yet also so effortless, almost like second nature.

I have questioned myself so much and yet I've received such affirmation and never been so sure of myself and what I'm doing.

I have a constant companion and yet often times I feel so alone and lonely.

The days often drag on yet the weeks go too fast.

So many days, I long to just get out of the house and yet really, there is no place that I would rather be.

Nothing I have ever done has been as simple, monotonous and completely un-glamorous and yet nothing I have ever done has been more valuable and more important with such huge lasting and eternal consequences.

Much of the time in the day seems to d-r-a-g and yet I realize that there is never enough time to snuggle, rock, laugh, sing, wipe tears and teach her all that I feel she needs to know. I find myself fighting regrets each night already.

Being a mother is by far the greatest honor I have ever been given.

It's also the hardest.

Quite simply, motherhood is such an intensely personal part of the fabric of who I have become and far beyond simple descriptions.

And I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world.

I mean seriously... look at that face

that little smile makes any hard day way more than worth it

*****

6 month stats:

weight - 15lbs 5oz (40th percentile)

height - 26.75 inches (90th percentile)

head circumference - 44cm (85th percentile)

*****

Leah continues to charm us with her sweet, little personality and all that she is learning and doing!

She still loves books and loves to hear mama and daddy (or anyone else) tell her stories.

She loves to be sung to. Even when she's fussy, I can get a smile out of her with some silly song. She loves me to sing her lullabies when she's tired. Rocking in the rocking chair and singing to her before every naptime is one of my most favorite parts of the day. I have an awful singing voice and somehow she still loves it. (funny that Chris hasn't asked me to start singing him to sleep yet)

She is fascinated with my hair and is surprisingly gentle with it. When we are snuggling in the rocking chair, she loves to reach up and stroke it. She just likes to feel it tickle her fingers, but she rarely grabs hold or pulls it. It's actually very sweet.

She is OBSESSED with tags... no matter what she is playing with, if it has a tag, she will find it, study it, chew on it and play with it. Sometimes it looks as if she's going cross-eyed trying to read them. I finally understand these now.

She has learned how to spit this month and loves sticking her tongue out and spitting. She spits and laughs. It's pretty adorable... but I'm not sure it will be for long.

She is finally starting to eat solids. So far she's had just homemade rice cereal and today started on homemade oatmeal cereal. She seems to like eating from a spoon and even seemed to like the rice cereal. Oatmeal, however... not so much. Her gag reflux was working overtime. But, we'll try again tomorrow. Next up: veggies, YUM!

She loves sucking on her toes. Her left big toe in particular.

This month also consisted of her first vacation and airplane trip, her first NCAA basketball game, her first online newspaper pictures (twice: here and here), her first time in a swimming pool, her first lacrosse game, her first baseball game, her first stroller ride in the "big girl seat" (not just with her carseat attached), her first afternoon in the park just laying on a blanket and feeling the warm sun and cool breeze and her first shots (she didn't even cry).

It's been a pretty darn good month if I say so myself...

...and I have a feeling it's just going to keep getting better!

Thanks for the best 6 months, 26 weeks, 182 days and 4368 hours I could have ever imagined!

Happy Half-Birthday LJ!

xox

...Big Fun in The Big Easy...

Turns out that we can still be spontaneous!

Even with our new (and awesome and adorable) little sidekick!

When our beloved basketball team beat Gonzaga 2 weeks ago, sending them farther then they had been in 30 years, we immediately wanted to go along.

We jumped online and started plotting our vacation. After a couple of hours of late-night deliberations and lots of phone calls back and forth with my parents (who are even bigger fans than us)... we decided we better sleep on it.

Morning came and the prices had sky-rocketed and the availability has diminished. More and more, we thought we probably better not go. We could cheer and show support from here.

However, as we came home from church later that afternoon we couldn't stop thinking about it and wanting to go.

::Back to the drawing board::

After several more hours of deliberating and then stumbling across newly added direct flights, we just went for it.

We booked our tickets at about 9:30pm Sunday night and we were on a flight to New Orleans by Tuesday afternoon. After initially deciding not to come along, by mid-day Monday, my parents had also caved in and booked their tickets, deciding they didn't want to miss it afterall!

Big Easy... here we come!!

It is definitely a little harder and a lot more stressful to travel with a littlemiss. She needs a.lot.of.stuff and thrives on routines... but somehow we pulled it all together and were on our way!

I got so much great advice from friends about traveling with a baby and she actually did suprisingly well on the flight...

(considering she's a baby and all)

She laid on my lap through most of the flight and played with random things

(like a fresh from the package binky that she thinks are chew toys).

She spent a good 45 minutes with just an M&M wrapper.

She got a little fussy when she got tired, but we made it to New Orleans with no real disasters!

First stop was definitely the French Quarter... always great music playing and good people watching. Our favorite game is "What's their story?" and there just might not be a better setting to play it in than right where we were sitting!

Pretty soon it was snack time and that's reason enough to take a trip to the Big Easy.

Cafe Du Monde and the famous beignets.

I had strict orders from both of my sisters to eat a few beignets for them and I happily obliged!

Chris wasn't too happy that we had to take pictures before diving in...

It was so nice not having much of an agenda (other than some basketball games) The weather was amazing, 80 degrees and beautiful. Leah and I LOVED having daddy-time around the clock... something we're not used to and we took full advantage. We spent several mornings lounging out by the pool... something I have a feeling Leah is already hooked on. She's a natural bathing beauty and totally loved splashing in the pool. Seeing her in the pool with her daddy was one of those things that I've daydreamed family vacations would consist of. It made me melty.

In addition to the beignets, New Orleans has some of the best food ever! We came to love Mother's on a previous visit and once again... it did not disappoint.

It doesn't hurt to have an inside connection to the man himself and getting to by-pass the

nomatterwhattimeofdayitis-linetogetinside.

Free breakfast and the most amazing biscuits ever ain't bad either. Thanks dp (and jerry, of course)!

Our first visit to Mother's was game-day and as we were leaving, we ran into Channel 5's Jeremiah Jensen waiting in the above mentioned line to get in. Turns out, he doesn't have quite the inside connections like we do and he wanted his picture taken with us and the cutest little BYU fan he's ever seen. (hehe)

Next stop... New Orleans Arena and all of the pre-game festivities!!

Leah was a bit like the belle of the ball. Her sign made everyone laugh and want pictures taken with her and of her. We didn't get any firm commitments from the Jimmer (about whether he would in fact wait for her)... but she did get some hang time with TJ Fredette, which is pretty much the next best thing.

Mr Peanut was also there wantin' some of the Johnsons'

... and it was hard to believe that at this time last year, she was just a mysterious littlepeanut to me. Oh how I love that little peanut so much more than I ever thought possible!!

LJ decided to take a little pre-game nap while we waited to head in for the Big Dance!

Once we got in, she was up and ready to go, taking it all in! I'm not sure she knew quite what to think. We've taken her to lots of sporting events before... but not quite to this scale.

Once it got closer to game-time and all the noise.... out came the noise cancelling headphones. We weren't sure how she would do with them, but I think it muffled the noise just enough to be a bit like white noise and she was as calm as can be...

just watching all the people...

:: GAME ON::

We had incredible seats and had so much fun!

When Leah got tired of watching the game, I turned her around and she went right to sleep. I can't believe how sweet she is and how good she was!

Although it was not the outcome that we wanted, we had a blast. It was a great game and an incredible season for our boys in blue. None of us had any regrets about going!

***

The next day we got up, enjoyed a yummy breakfast and took off out along the Mississippi into the Bayou and out to Platation Country. It was unbelievably beautiful and we loved strolling through the Antebellum mansion at Oak Alley.

I took full advantage and enjoyed my Southern Mint Julep out under one of the enormous oak trees. It was delcious and magical!

Leah wanted her own Mint Julep pretty bad...

I can't possibly describe how much I loved having so much quality time with all of my favorite people.... my parents, my precious baby girl and most especially my babydaddy.

It was perfect!

***

Saturday came and we had incredible tickets to another great basketball game and nothing better to do. Although our team wasn't playing, we still had another great afternoon watching another incredible game!!

Leah didn't seem to care who was playing, I think she just loved being there!

We are doing our best to raise a good little sports fan!

***

Leah was so unbelievably good as we carted her across the country. Most of her naps were in the carseat, stroller or bjorn, her meals were not nearly as lesuirely as she's becomed accustomed to and her bed was not nearly as pretty as the one she has at home.... but she was happy most of the time and we couldn't be luckier than to have her as our newest travel buddy.

It was an amazing trip!

So fun, so spontaneous and so low-key. What a relief for CJ and I to realize that we can in fact travel with a baby and do the things we've always loved.

It's definitely different than it was before and it's also harder than it was before...

but there is absolutely no question that it is also so much better than it ever was before!