I can't believe how long it has been since I last blogged!  So many days I want to blog and don't take the time or the words just don't come to me.  In the last year our lives have changed so much and yet so little. I know hope pray for changes in the next 4-6 weeks, not because I am not happy with where we are, but because I feel that God has bigger plans for us.  So, if you would, please say a prayer for us that God will guide us and continue to watch over us.

Even as I sit here typing this blog, the words just don't flow.  They come out jumbled.  They don't portray my feelings.  They don't capture the essence of what I want to say.  So, I am going to just add some pictures of they joys of my life...my 3 wonderful kids!

Attempts at family photos often turn out like this! 

Enjoying some cotton candy at the circus (sorry it is sideways)

Awesome hats from Carla...William wanted to model too!

A visit to the butterfly house.

Katelyn's blue tongue from a Robin's Egg Easter candy.

Hillbilly sledding!

Look at those muscles

William's picnic lunch.  He was determined to have lunch outside. 

So peaceful when she sleeps.

My happy boy with a new haircut.

William's 18-month checkup

Today, William, Katelyn and I headed to Kansas City for William's 18-month checkup.  Before heading to the doctor's office, we did a little shopping.

This visit to the doctor was a little bittersweet.  I LOVE our pediatrician.  He is not the pediatrician we started with, I also LOVED her, but he took on part of her patients when she left the practice.  When I was pregnant with Julianne, Brian and I discussed what we wanted in a pediatrician and even met with 3 or 4 before we decided on one.  Our first pediatrician was terrific.  She was a wife and mother.  She was gentle with the kids, patient with everyone and told us the truth.  She was gentle in her presentation, but didn't beat around the bush.

She left the pediatrician practice when I was pregnant with Katelyn.  I was bummed about it, but I totally understood.  She made her choices based on what her family needed.  Two new doctors (and I do mean new, they just finished their residencies when they started with the practice) took on her patients when she left.  I had not met either of them when I needed to take Julianne to the pediatrician for what I thought was chicken pox.  Chicken pox is not alarming to me, but I was pregnant and there are risks for mom and baby when exposed to chicken pox.  So, I called the practice and when the doctor we were going to use wouldn't see us, because she too was pregnant, we saw our current pediatrician for the first time.   Once we got the appointment scheduled, Julianne and I hit the road and we were off to see Dr. Kevin Burgert.  What a blessing this was!

He has been great with all 3 of my kids.  Julianne likes to jokingly call him "Dr. Burger", which makes Katelyn giggle uncontrollably.  So, over the last 4 and a half years we have taken the kids to Dr. Kevin for well-baby visits and a few sick visits.  We have experienced firsts with him and listened as he has said that will be my 2 kids in about six months (that was today as William was picking on Katelyn).  He has a little girl that is about 6 months younger than Katelyn and a little boy that is about 6 months younger than William.

So, back to the bittersweet.  Today, hopefully, was the last time we will see him.  Since we will be moving in June, my kids do not need any more well visits before the move.  And while I don't want my kids to get sick, I wouldn't hesitate to take them to see Dr. Kevin one last time!

Now, onto William....

Age: 18 months, 3 days
Weight: 27 pounds, 15 ounces (75th percentile)
Height: 31.5 inches (25th percentile)

William is a healthy, active boy.  He LOVES to climb and I do mean LOVES to climb!  His vocabulary is starting to grow and currently includes the words: Momma, Dadda, Papa, basketball (he says ba-ba-ball when he sees one), balloon, ball, banana (na-na), bat, more and some others.  He loves to make car sounds, "vroom, vroom" while playing with his cars.  He is learning to "meow" when you ask what a kitty says.  I am also working on getting him to say "woof, woof" for a puppy.

He loves belly buttons.  When asked where his is he will lift his shirt up and then try and get everyone else to lift their shirts also.  He also points correctly to hands and feet when asked.

His favorite foods are definitely fruits.  He will eat pretty much any fruit put in front of him.  Really, he will eat almost any food.  The couple foods he does not care for are raw broccoli, refried beans or plain scrambled eggs. He prefers his scrambled eggs with sausage, cheese, salsa and hash browns!

William is a boy and little brother thru and thru.  He knows how to irritate and bother his sisters.  But at the same time he has such a kind heart.  When one of his sisters is hurt, he will give them a hug and pat their back.  I love my baby boy and continue to enjoy each moment with him!

Home...

Sometimes you just need to relax...

and have fun...

or cause a little mischief!

Katelyn really enjoys hula hooping and is getting better.  It is fun to watch her get the hula hoop going and try to keep it going.

She has it moving!

William trying to get a drink out of Katelyn's water bottle.

When he couldn't get any out of Katelyn's bottle, he decided his sippy cup would be fine.

Lego time!  Katelyn and William enjoying time together playing with the Legos.

One happy boy!

Julianne wearing her visor she made during her special time as Star Student.  She enjoys reading chapter books these days and doesn't mind doing her reading homework when it is a chapter book!

A Tribute To Our Logical Mothers

Note to readers: I did not write this.  I do not know who did.  I got this in an email and I wanted to share it with everyone.  I can relate to so many!

A Tribute To Our Logical Mothers  1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.  "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."  2. My mother taught me RELIGION.   "You better pray that that will come out of the carpet."  3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.  "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"  4. My mother taught me LOGIC.  " Because I said so, that's why."  5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .   "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."  6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.  "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."  7. My mother taught me IRONY.   "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."  8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.  "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."  9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.  "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"  10. My mother taught me about STAMINA.  "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."  11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.  "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."  12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.  "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"  13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.  "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."  14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.  "Stop acting like your father!"  15. My mother taught me about ENVY.  "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."  16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.  "Just wait until we get home."  17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING.  "You are going to get it when you get home!"  18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.  "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."  19. My mother taught me ESP.  "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"  20. My mother taught me HUMOR.  "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."  21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.  "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."  22. My mother taught me GENETICS.   "You're just like your father."  23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.  "Shut that door behind you.  Do you think you were born in a barn?"  24. My mother taught me WISDOM.   "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."  And my favorite: 25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE  .  "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

Happy Halloween!

My Cowgirl and Fairy

My Cowgirl, Blue M&M, and Fairy

Daylight

Julianne and Katelyn's jack-o-lanterns

 Glowing at night

When William sees a camera he heads towards it, so I get quite a few pictures up-close.

William's Halloween pjs.

Today...

I am sitting here on the couch tonight and something calls me to look at some of my blogs from 2010.  Wow, it is hard to believe that it is January 2011...where did time go?  Shouldn't it just be the end of January 2010?

When I was in elementary school I always thought the days went by so slow, I think most everyone thinks that as kids.  I remember my parents and many others tell me just wait, when you get older you will want time to slow down.  I laughed at those words, but now I realize they were so very, very right!  I WANT, I NEED, time to slow down.  My baby girl (Julianne), okay she isn't a baby any more, can't be 6 already!  Katelyn shouldn't be 4 and William definitely shouldn't be 1 - he should be a few months old at best.

Time does move forward whether we like it or not.  I guess I'd better like it....life is much easier to be appreciative of what we have and enjoy the moments we have with each other, then to live in the past and miss the "now".  I keep reminding myself if time didn't move forward I wouldn't have new memories of my wonderful (some days they do challenge the thought of them being wonderful) children everyday!  So, I am accepting that time moves fast, but I am going to enjoy every moment and live for today.

Speaking of today, I enjoyed it very much.

Today I got to sleep in (thanks Brian)!  Today I got to see all my kids smile and hear them laugh!  Today I got to taste the food I ate!  Today I got to smell the wonderful outdoors!  Today I got to feel the love of my kids when they hugged me!

So, I am thankful for today.  Today, the love of my family reminded me how lucky I am!

Goodnight dear friends and family.  Tomorrow is a new day and I will appreciate it for everything it has to offer.

Becca

PS.  I will try and get pictures up soon.  I am adjusting to my new MacBook and trying to figure out where I want to store ALL my pictures.  I take at least 250 in a normal week, and when there is something special I usually have a minimum of 500!!

Control

So those of you who know me well, and even some who do not know me so well, know I am a control freak.  I like to be in charge, know what is going on, and be in on making the decisions.  This can be challenging at times, especially with 3 little ones, a husband living 6 hours away, and single parenting during the week.  I feel like I am managing it all very well during the week, but it can be very challenging.  Some days are more stressful than others, though I am pretty sure I bring that upon myself alot of times. 

For those of you not following what I am saying here it is, "My name is Becca Johnston and I am a control freak."  For as long as I can remember I have loved to be in control.  I want things to be perfect.  Why let others do it if you are just going to have to re-do it so it is "perfect"?  I have taken many personality tests only to find out what I know, I am an extrovert who is a Type A personality.  I want to be in control! I need to be in control!

When I was in elementary school (before we typed papers - gasp) we would "long-hand" assignments.  My assignments needed to be perfect.  I would usually use pencil on a "rough draft", though I never handed in the rough draft, and then re-write it in pen so it was perfect.  I would even start over on the rough draft if there was an error and I couldn't erase it to my liking!  Yes, I was that anal.  Sometimes I wish I still was like that with certain things.  Though, it is probably a good thing I am not! 

As I got older, I liked to be the planner.  I planned birthday parties for my friends....once we did a video scavenger hunt.  I had to be meticulous in my planning, down to the minute of where we were going to be  because other friends were dropping off the clues ahead of us and other friends were meeting up with us (pre everyone having cell phones).  I loved it...I loved being in control.

Even with my kids births I had some control.  I knew what day they were going to be born on.  I was careful in picking the day, I wanted things to be perfect for my new little one coming into this world.  I know, that no matter what else happened on that day, I always welcomed my perfect little baby!

I still love to plan and I carry my planner with me everywhere.  I have my days and weeks planned out ahead of time, sometimes 3-4 months out, at least.  When one summer vacation is over, I like to start planning the next one.  I don't want to miss out on something fun and exciting!

Being a control freak or Type A personality definitely is challenging.  I don't want to change it for the world, because it is who I am.  So, instead of changing me I just make adjustments and move forward.  I bury myself in other things to keep my mind off that which I cannot control. 

But I will always remember, "My name is Becca Johnston and I am a control freak!"

March 4th

Here is a picture of Will having some floor time.  He is so close to rolling over, but seems to care less about being able to do it.  If he wants to get somewhere he lays on his back and pushes himself with his legs.  He can even turn himself in a circle to get to where he wants.  I have found him 10 feet off of his blanket!  Needless to say, he is quite the little mover this way.

Smiles that melt my heart!

Katelyn and Julianne have been into "cooking" lately.  I usually can't get a picture of them with there dishes, but I happened to have the camera right beside me on this day.

Will smiles alot, but he also has a great set of lungs!!

Another day and another...well, who knows!

So, on Monday afternoon after Julianne and Katelyn's swim lessons I noticed a bit of a rash on Will's tummy.  I didn't think much of it, as it was quite warm and humid in the pool area and when I took him out of his carseat he was sweating.  I chalked the rash up to that.  Monday night when I got him ready for bed it seemed to be gone.

On to Tuesday afternoon...

I was nursing Will and after all his wiggles his shirt exposed his tummy.  What do I see?  The rash!  Argh.  So I inspect him some more and it is on his belly, his sides, and his chest.  Alright, now what is causing this rash.  After I got done nursing him, I inspect him all over.  Nothing on his legs, butt, or arms.  Now I look at his neck and face and there it is.  It is on his neck, up the sides of his neck, behind his ears, and around his hairline.  I am not freaking out, but am very frustrated.  What to do?  I call Brian to get his opinion...no luck, he is in a meeting downstairs.  I call my Mom, no answer.  Alright, I will call the Peditrician. I call and leave a message, now I must wait for the call back.  Wait, I am going to call the pharmacy and talk to Scott or Mary (what wonderful friends and pharmacists!) and ask them about the side effects and reactions to augmentin.  Will just finished it for his most recent ear infection.  A rash could be a sign of an allergic reaction.  Scott says that benadryl can probably help.  While I am on the phone with him, the pediatrician's office calls.  I pick up that call.  I talk to the nurse, apologize for calling and she tells me it is okay that I am calling.  I explain to her that I have two other kids, ages almost 6 and 3 years old.  Between the 2 of them we have had 4 sick visits!  I do feel very lucky about this.  However with Will I have had that many in the past month and feel that I keep over-reacting.  She assures me I am not.  I tell her what is going on.  I give her the history for the past month:

February 8: Will's first ear infection, right ear
February 14: both ear drums burst
February 27: ear infection, right ear

I let her know that he just finished the augmentin.  She then tells me it could be an allergic reaction to the augmentin or it could be a virus.  GO AWAY SICKNESS!  She then says to give him benadryl.  The benadryl will clear up the rash if it is one, but not the other.  I can't remember which way it goes.  The nurse said if the benadryl doesn't clear it up in 3 or 4 days to call back.  I tell her thanks and hang-up.

Now I call Scott back and tell him what the nurse said.  He says he will pull a bottle of benadryl off the shelf, put in a plug, get a medicine measurer and have it waiting for me.  I sure do appreciate the great service I get from Scott, Mary, and the rest of the staff at Hometown Pharmacy!

So, 45 minutes late I have things worked out for Will.  It is now 4:30, crap Julianne isn't ready for dance, hasn't eaten and we have to leave in 15 minutes.  Oh yeah, I need to nurse Will before I leave.  I know we can do this, it will just take a lot of encouraging Julianne to keep her moving.

We did it!  We made it out of the house at 4:50...plenty of time to get her to dance.  I drop her off at dance, walk fast to the pharmacy (luckily it is only a half block away), and then I need to head to a board meeting.  I get to my meeting a few minutes late, but at least I made it!  Brian calls about 6:25 to let me know that I need to head home right after picking Julianne up because Will is awake.  I tell Brian to give Will a bath, that will buy some time.

Alright, my meeting is over.  I go to the car and drive back to the dance studio to get Julianne.  I get Julianne and head back to the car.  I try to start the car, but it won't start...you have got to be kidding me.  I try again...nothing.  I open the hood...had this problem last summer and it was a simple fix.  Nope, that is not the anwer.  CRAP!  I call Brian...he says he will call our "neighborhood mechanic" to come and help.  Great, I will wait.  Mike shows up to rescue the damsel in distress.  Mika is with too for the rescue, she thinks it is awesome.  Mike jumps my car and it is running.  YEAH!!  I thank Mike multiple times and Julianne and I are on our way home. 

We get home and all is fine with the world.  I put things away, check Julianne's dance bag and crap, one tap shoe is missing...you have got to be kidding me.  Oh well, another day I will go check the lost and found at the dance studio.  For tonight, I am done and ready for bed.

What a day it was....let's hope that Wedensday is uneventful!!

iPhones

Yep, that's right...Brian and I got iPhones today!

There is definitely a learning curve, but I am loving it!

Becca

Busy Weekend

Wow, what a busy weekend it has been. I am still working on the kitchen, but it is very close to being done! I am really down to putting things away that do not belong in the kitchen. I even cleaned the outside of the fridge...most joke that they don't know my fridge is white! Yesterday, I was able to get almost every surface scrubbed down in the kitchen. I love a clean kitchen!

Brian worked hard today also. He installed the railing for the stairs to the basement, hung up my ironing board and iron holder, and cleaned up after himself.

Today I started a few other projects. I am adding circles towards the tops of Will's walls, so I started stencilng those on this evening. I have 2 of the 4 walls stenciled. Tomorrow I will finish stenciling and start painting! I am so excited. I had wanted to add some accent shapes when it was Katelyn's room, but it never happened. So, I decided that there is no time like now to do it. I also worked on laundry. I think I have done 5 loads today and have 3 to go. I am trying to figure out how my kids go thru so many clothes, especially when we had to pajama days on the snow days! I am guessing that is a mystery I will never solve.

Well, I'd better go fold some laundry and try and get 1 or 2 more things done on my to-do list for today. I will hopefully get pictures up tomorrow (Monday) of our weekend accomplishments.

Have a great week and enjoy the heat wave!