The Price I Paid for Peace and Quiet

Brad is out of town enjoying some time with his dad and brother. So that leaves me, Will and the dogs at home. I started out the morning going through the guest room closet so that hopefully we can get Will moved into that room and be able to work on the nursery. I made some pretty good progress but then got to a container of pictures and scrapbooks and supplies and Will was wanting to be too helpful. So I decided it was time for a break and I just wanted a few minutes of quiet time. I talked to my brother on the phone and saw Will go behind the chair I was sitting in, then got off the phone and was watching "Deliver Me" (great show, by the way!). I knew Will was still behind me and was being quiet and I thought he probably had a book or toy or something appropriate that was keeping his attention. WRONG! He kind of fussed then came out looking like this:

My first thought was oh no! Sharpie! But it wasn't.

Can you guess what it was?

He looks kind of cute with his little Hitler stache, right?

He even got it on the back of his thighs! That is talent!
My child decorated himself with mascara. I'm thinking he got it out of my bathroom at some point and hid it under the chair. Thank goodness it wasn't waterproof.

All clean after lots and lots of scrubbing. If you ever need to know, Lever seems to take it off easier than Huggies baby wash.

Why does it seem like things like these happen when Brad isn't home?

Life Goes On

When we lose people we love, life goes on. And lose really isn't the proper term here. I guess 'separated' would be more accurate. You see, we know EXACTLY where Betty Jo is. She is in the most wonderful place that you and I can't even imagine. She is surrounded by, as my mom put it "perfect love". She is home in Heaven in the presence of God. How awesome is that? We grieve our separation because we will miss her, just as we miss others who have left this imperfect world before us. But I know that I will join her one day because of the saving grace of Jesus. And life here in the meantime goes on.

Will and Nana hanging out on the front steps of Betty Jo's house

My brothers and me (l-r Chris, me, Joseph, Sam)

Sam and mom

I enjoyed my time in Corinth with my immediate and extended family. Betty Jo married into the Johnson family and though nearly all of her brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law have passed away, there are still many cousins, nieces, nephews and all of their children and grandchildren. They brought food, ice, drinks and sent flowers. They participated as pall-bearers and offered up their homes for family to stay in. My second cousin Jenny kept Will and my niece and nephew during the funeral. I wish I saw them more often and knew them better, because they are all very kind people. We visited, looked at pictures and reminisced about Betty Jo. She would have loved having everyone gathered around and talking about her!

We were not able to have a graveside service because of the rain, but we did go to the cemetery the evening of the funeral. The kids shared a reverent moment with us then began to run and play and climb on the gravemarkers. Will went from one to another, having a seat and pulling weeds from around the stones. Then he found a spot he remained content in for several minutes and began picking up dirt and throwing it down his jon-jon. I wasn't too worried because I was planning to give him a bath anyway. But my mom seemed stressed because he had to ride in her car! When I took his diaper off a little while later at bathtime, he had some dirt down in it. Ah yes, life does go on.

my little guy just chillin'

Hannah, Alex and Emma Claire

Will before his dirt shower

Alex is quite a funny guy

-Sweet Emma Claire

The beautiful spray atop her casket

Betty Jo Martin Johnson

April 18, 1927 - September 20, 2009

Betty Jo, me and my mom on my wedding day

My grandmother passed away this morning. My mom, dad, uncle and her pastor were at her side. I have been bracing myself for this for weeks now. I knew she had been in poor health and was expecting it to happen a couple of weeks ago. But then she rallied and was able to be discharged from the hospital to a rehab center in hopes of getting her strength built back up to where she could go home. My mom has been with her a lot through this. Will and I got to visit a few weeks ago. My oldest brother was able to go see her last weekend and take her for a ride, get her a cheese enchilada and let her stop and visit with her dog. Sam and his family and Joseph were also able to visit a few weeks ago.

Until her first hospitalization several weeks ago, she had been living on her own and able to take care of all of her daily needs. She was even driving still, possibly to the danger of fellow Corinthians. If she rode with you, she would say things like "Oh you don't have to stop at this stop sign. Nobody is ever here." She always tried to convince us to park in a handicap spot, even though our vehicle wasn't tagged for that. She always knew who had just been married, moved or had a new baby. She was definitely an authority on any of the goings on in Corinth (at least she thought she was). If we went somewhere she always ran into about 5 people she knew. Or was related to. If you are part of the Johnson family and you are in Corinth, that is pretty easy to do!

We had a special grandmother-grandaughter relationship. Chris tells me we clashed from the beginning. We were both so hard-headed and would probably both argue with a wall, so our visits would inevitibly end up in (temporary) frustration on both sides. One of Brad's most fond memories is a few years ago at Thanksgiving when I was preparing to bake some yeast rolls (that I had made before) and she was trying to tell me how to butter them. She wouldn't leave me alone about it and even told me I didn't know how to butter rolls! So Brad walked into the kitchen about that time and I strongly suggested he take her to the living room and show her pictures from our recent trip. He still gives me heck about that. Betty Jo definitely had her own way of doing things and if yours was different, well, it just wasn't right!

She was a very loving lady and I have many fond memories of going to visit her. I am so happy that she was able to live on her own until the very end. She wouldn't have taken well to being bed ridden and dependent on other people! She did recently say that she was really hurting all over, so I am thankful she is not in any pain now. God's timing is always so perfect. My great aunt Kat came to town last weekend (she lives in Arizona and comes once a year or less often). She was my grandfather's baby sister and is always such a delight to be around. Betty Jo loved when Kat visited. She got to visit some with Betty Jo while before she became confused and was with her when she went to the ER Friday night. Kat will be able to attend the funeral. And I am still able to travel so will be able to attend, too.

I am so thankful that our family has been able to spend extra time with her over the past several weeks and I hope she knew just how much we loved and cared about her, even when we weren't there. We will miss her very much. Thank you to all of you who have supported our family in prayer, love and visits.

Will and Nana

Will adores his grandparents. His Poppy (Brad's dad) keeps him for us during the week while we work. His Gigi is there a couple of days a week, too, and poor Poppy gets forgotten about even though he probably spends more waking hours with him than any of us do. Nobody else seems to exist if Gigi is in the room! It is really sweet to see him with any of his grandparents because they and Will light up equally.

Will doesn't get to see his Nana or Pop (my parents) too often even though we live pretty close. A few weeks ago we went to see Betty Jo (my grandmother) and he got lots of Nana time. We spent the night and I got sick the next day and was unable to care for him (Nana to the rescue!). Betty Jo has been quite ill lately and my mom has spent a lot of time in Corinth. Unfortunately, Betty Jo is back in the hospital again and is not doing well at the moment. I would like to go see her again but she is in ICU and neither Will or I need to be in that area. My traveling days will soon come to an end as I approach the end of my pregnancy and I will be on call the next 2 weekends, so I don't know when I will be able to see her again.

Here are some pictures from the day we went to see Betty Jo in August. I didn't get any pictures of my grandmother because she is quite particular about being 'ready' for pictures! Will had a lot of fun with his Nana in Betty Jo's hospital room and I'm sure it lifted the patient's spirits seeing her youngest great-grandchild.

Reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

Here, Nana, let me help you turn the page

Will read the newspaper just like Nana

Nana telling him about the world outside the window

Third Trimester

Last week I entered the 3rd trimester. Where has the time gone? It really seems like I just got pregnant and now the baby is almost here! I will be 29 weeks tomorrow and Will was born at 37 weeks 2 days by my count, 36 weeks 6 days by the Dr.'s, so we may only have 8 more weeks to go (at least that's what I keep telling myself). There is still much to do! We have a few tenative names picked out and have bought the crib and bedding, but I still have to clean out the guest room and move Will in there before we can set up the nursery. I am planning to work until Halloween, at which point I will be 35 1/2 weeks. I feel pretty good, aside from some swelling and some back and hip aches, which just started last week.

Here I am last Sunday at 27 weeks 5 days

For comparison's sake, here is me pregnant with Will at about 35 1/2 weeks on Easter Sunday 2008. I carried pretty high with him and didn't get big until the end.

We had a sonogram done a week ago and I asked that we do the 3d/4d ultrasound at that visit. Then I found out it would be an extra $150 so when they called the day before to confirm my appointment, I told them to cancel the 3d/4d part. They didn't make us pay up front for the 3d/4d so I forgot to mention again we didn't want it. (Well I did want it, but I didn't want to pay the extra $!). So the tech took us back and did the usual measurements. Then she said, "Ok! Now for the fun part!" and turned on the 3d/4d. In my mind I was thinking 'Tell her to stop! We can't pay for this!' but I was powerless to stop looking at the sweet little face on the screen. We got to see the baby smile and suck his/her thumb. It was so sweet. So I guess we will be getting a bill for that part of the ultrasound. I think it is worth it, though!

PS: I totally think it's a girl!

17 Months

Will turned 17 months old on Thursday. My baby is turning into a big boy right before my eyes! I never posted about his 15 month checkup. His stats were:

30 lbs (95th percentile)

33.75 inches (95th percentile)

head circ (?) = 90th percentile

He is getting so smart! Dr. Rogers seemed slightly concerned at his 12 month appointment that Will only said a couple of words consistently, but over the past 5 months we have had a word explosion!

Will's words:

Dada (obviously for daddy but also when he wants to know what something is)

Mama (doesn't use this one to call me but he does say it)

dow/dat dow (dog/that dog)

lowr (flower)

bik (book)

uh-oh

duck

wak wak (quack quack)

hey! (always in a very excited way and often to strangers)

wee!

bah/ball (ball)

du (dude, which he heard me say when he was tearing something up)

lo? (hello when holding a phone)

Mac (Max, his grandparent's dog)

Nana (my mom)

Pop (my dad)

Poppy (Brad's dad - only said a few times)

blloon/lloon (balloon)

lellow (yellow)

voom voom (vroom vroom for a car)

ahwhy (alright!)

dree (tree)

knock knock

dananana! (no no no no! he got this from us when we were trying to stop him, now he says it when he's doing something he shouldn't)

dan (fan)

laht (light)

ow!

bebe (baby)

bye/bye bye

bah (bath)

He makes the signs for baby (so sweet!), Nana (which he made up), fan, and please (we are working on making that a frequent one instead of him going eh! eh! when he wants something). He waves bye and knocks on doors (and opens doors if they're not locked). He loves the vacuum and says wee! when he wants you to use it or you are using it. He LOVES balls and will kick, hike or throw them. He really loves books and wants us to read them constantly. He loves water and gets very excited if we say 'bath' and runs to his bathroom. He LOVES shoes and brings us our shoes to put on and tries to put his own on. He claps for us when we put ours on.

He really is a sweet boy and so funny. He laughs a lot and recently started squinting his eyes up and showing all his teeth when his smiles (which I can NEVER catch on camera for some reason). He makes us laugh a lot and though he is becoming a picky eater (he will eat anything cheese, though) and fighting sleep more, he's a pretty easy going kid. It is hard to believe nearly a year and a half has passed since he came into our lives and he will soon be a big brother!

Playing at the park

Who is this kid?

I have been quite a lazy blogger lately. With Brad working a ton, and me often working late then playing single mommy throughout the week (at least through bedtime), I just don't have the energy to post! But we have been up to quite a bit! 2 weeks ago I decided I'd had enough of Will's curly hair. Don't get me wrong - I totally loved the curls when they looked like sweet curls, but they had recently turned into a mess! Toward the end of the day he would have Bozo the Clown hair. I wanted to get it cut but we were all battling a cold and I figured my newly pregnant hair-dresser wouldn't appreciate us coughing and sneezing through an appointment. But when I picked him up 2 Friday's ago and saw the fro, I decided it was time. I drove by a chain men's and boy's barber shop and saw the waiting room was empty so we went in and I had them cut it all off! We did save a couple of curls but I did not get pictures of the momentous event. She did cut it a bit shorter than I intended but I think it is adorable. I also think it aged him about a year and a half. He looks so grown! I had totally forgotten about the sweet point he had at the nape of his neck before his hair started getting long. Seeing it reminded me about his sweet chubby baby days. I am finally used to it now but for several days he just looked like a different child to me!

Children's Fellowship

We had a children's fellowship after church one Sunday and had a great time. We had chicken tenders and rings for lunch then there were tons of activities for kids of all ages.

Will seemed to like the spinner, but it didn't want to spin much.

He loved the giant keyboard

You can't tell it from his expression here, but he loved the bowling set

There were inflatables outside but they were pretty hot in the August sun so he didn't play on them too much.

Yogi Bear Waterpark

We recently took Will to the Yogi Bear Waterpark at Jellystone Park in Pelahatchie for an afternoon. The park is only about 20 minutes from our house and didn't even know it was there until a coworker told me about it a few weeks ago. They've been open for 2 years (I think) and it is really neat! They have activities scheduled for the whole day including a hayride and an outdoor movie. There is also a putt-putt course and a playground. We only went to the waterpark but we will make a day of it the next time we go. You can also rent a cabin and stay there and all the activities are included, so we will do that sometime, too.

Yogi on top of the water tower. Every 10 minutes or so, a whistle would blow and water would start pouring from the tower.

The main play area. There was a larger slide on the other side and a zero-entry pool that overlooked Pelahatchie lake.

The water was only a few inches deep which was perfect for Will to be able to sit and play.

Checking out the mushroom waterfall with Daddy.

After getting soaked under the tower.

After getting down from the tower

Sliding down the big slide with Daddy. I took him once and he really loved it. Before we went down he would start saying "Wee wee wee!" We would have taken him more than a few times but unfortunately the line took forever because kids would break in line in front of us! I know my children will never be perfect but it gets me when parents don't pay attention to how their kids act and treat other people in public! But all in all we had a great time!