Belly Dancing

This is just a hint at what new baby girl Johnson does to her momma at night while she's trying to go to sleep. It is very dark, but if you watch the line between my bellly and the sheet you can really see what's going on. I don't know what going on in there, but it sure isn't comfortable!

Big girl

Lilah has made the move into her big girl room this week! We have been working on painting and gathering furniture for it over the last several weeks, and it is nearly complete. I am still waiting on the curtain rod I ordered to arrive, but Lilah and I talked and she wanted to go ahead and move in. She LOVES showing people her new room and doesn't seem to miss the old one in the least. She has some cute pictures on the wall, including her name above her crib. Every morning when I go get her she points to it, says, "Lilah!" and beats on her chest. Pretty funny.

We have seen a lot of animals in the last few weeks too. Two weeks ago, we went to the zoo in Seattle. Lilah loved it! She still asks about the elephants at the zoo, and we really only saw their backsides. She was super cute next to the penguins, and I was able to get a cute picture. We checked out the fair last Friday that is in town this week and got some great close-up experience with cows, horses, goats, sheep and pigs. It was really cute to see how excited she got with all the animals around. She kept asking, "more animals?"

Along the animal crazed lines, we got a new kitten. Crazy, I know. I had only gone to Ace (of all places!) for a paint roller for Lilah's new room and saw her in a little cage at the front with her sister. She is so much cuter than most kittens and was super sweet from the get-go. And now that we have her at home, that disposition has not changed. She is snuggly and lets you hold her like a baby. Sleeps on her back on the sofa all stretched out and lets Lilah carry her around all over. She has her claws still, and will keep them, so Lilah has had a few lessons on how to be gentle with the kitty, but she has done a really great job (Lilah and kitty both).

Lilah's words have exploded over the last few weeks. She'll repeat anything, which I've had to learn to be careful with what I say. My favorite thing recently is that Lilah is learning to joke a bit. She noticed the other day that the cows and horses nearby eat grass, so I was asking her who ate grass (working on more than yes or no questions which I have a tendency to only ask). I went through and asked if Momma ate grass, and said, Nooooo..... then went through lots of other family members, saying Noooooo after each one, but coming back to cows and horses with a yes. Now, whenever we pass a cow or horse on the side of the road, or if Lilah just gets bored, she goes through the list herself. "Nana eat grass? Noooooo. Papa eat grass? Nooooo." And in the mornings sometimes when I go to get her from her room, she'll say, "poo poo diaper!" and I'll ask if she went poo poo in her diaper, she responds, "Nooooo...." and then laughs. Fooled you mom!

Love

Lilah and I have had a fun day today. We met up with some friends at the park this morning and played until it got too hot. Cut us some slack, okay? We were dressed pretty warmly and then the sun came out. Low seventies can feel pretty hot when you aren't used to it (and pregnant). By the time we had played so long in the sun, Lilah's poor cheeks were so red, we needed to cool down. On the way home we picked up slushes from Sonic, which Lilah loves. After lunch and a nap, I put on Beauty and the Beast for her to watch while I caught up on laundry and dishes. She pulled up her little camping chair next to the coffee table, and put her little slush in the cup holder. Just watching her, I can't help but be overwhelmed by love. She really is pretty sweet and funny. In the beginning when the beast is giving Maurice (Belle's dad) a hard time, Lilah gets very concerned for his well-being, shouting "uh-oh! uh-oh!" the whole time. Then when she gets to a particular part in her slush when the ice has built up too much, she gently shakes it to mix it back up. Just like her momma. So funny how she's picked up those things! And still 30 minutes into this movie, she has hardly budged, except to tell me her slush was finished. So precious.

And I was able to catch Lilah and Daddy snuggling in bed the other morning. Jonas wasn't so happy about me pulling out the camera, but I think all dads need to have snuggle pictures with their kids. I think it's pretty cute!

Three years later...

Jonas and I just celebrated our third wedding anniversary last week. The week before our anniversary, Jonas' parents were in town visiting, and we all took a trip to Victoria, BC. Jonas and I went to Victoria on our honeymoon, so it was really neat to see it again near our anniversary. We had to get our picture outside of the Empress hotel, where we stayed for a few nights three years earlier. To think all that has happened in the last three years!

We have been very busy getting Lilah's new room ready. It is painted now, and the chair rail and crown moulding at up and looking great. She loves to look into her new room and is very excited about moving in. We have a dresser on order and will move her in after it arrives. Jonas and I are also building Lilah a new bookcase to help contain her massive number of books. They live in a huge pile on her bedroom floor right now, but we are working on a sling bookshelf so that she can see the fronts of the books and hopefully make it easier to keep them picked up in her new room. Her new room is considerably bigger than her current room, so she'll have lots of room to play. She's going to stay in her crib in the new room, and hopefully for a little while longer still. I'm not ready for a big-girl bed!