Addy's Day of "Culture"

Addy's 2nd field trip was to see the Musical of Annie and the Bing Crosby Theater.  Later that afternoon she attended her first Yoga class (with the help of Avlynne of course). My friend from college, Janny, is an amazing children's yoga instructor!  Check her out at Yoga With Janny.

Our Growing Family...

No, I am not pregnant...

KJ and I have become the parents of a kindergartner this Fall.  Addy May has been living with us for about 2 months now and what a gift she is to our family! I have the privilege of joining with some fellow Moms to study God's Word on Tuesday mornings. We are going through one of Beth Moore's studies, "The Patriarchs." Being reminded of Abraham's life and journey has given me the courage to follow the Lord's lead on this whole wild, crazy journey we believe he has called us on. 

"By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going" (Hebrews 11:8). 

KJ and I have no idea where this journey will lead us. We are scared, we are excited, we are overwhelmed, it feels totally crazy at times, it feels totally normal at times. We have no idea where we are going or how we are going to get there. What we do know is that the Lord has always been faithful!

  I'm am pretty sure the Lord knew exactly what part of scripture I needed to be studying this Fall, funny how that works...

Addy's homework assignment today had her write about what she likes to do with her family...this is what she said:

I like to play puzzles, playdough and do projects.
I like doing silly faces.
Play dress-up.
Play with my baby sister.

Welcome to the Johnson Family Addy May!

3 Years

Three years ago, I said goodbye to my big brother Steve. His dying hand kept my living hand warm as he took his last breath; this I will never forget. His life was filled with much joy and much sorrow. Avlynne never got to meet her Uncle, who would have been absolutely in love with her, however just the other day she started taking interest in this collage of pictures, made by my sister, hanging in our kitchen.

It's like she just knew her Mama needed to take a moment to pause and remember; and tell her about her Uncle Steve. I miss him deeply but we feel honored to get to keep loving on his girls in the ways in which he is no longer able.

Who does she look like?

Here are a few pictures to compare. I have come to the conclusion that she is a pretty darn good combination of the two of us. Although we aren't too sure where her strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes came from??

Krista Lynne Clegg

Krista and her Clegg Family

Krista and Brother Steve

Kyle and Brother Eric

Kyle and His Dad

Kyle Dean Johnson

Avlynne Kay Johnson (5 months)

Avlynne (aka Cupcake at 6 months)

Avlynne and Her Daddy (9 months)

PS. Happy Anniversary to the most amazing in-laws! Thank you Connie and Merle for marrying each other 35 years ago and making all of the above possible!! We love you guys!

Naptime

Apparently this is a comfortable way for a 17-month-old little girl to sleep???

Hair

Earlier this week I cut off 8 inches of hair! My hairdresser encouraged me to research organizations that accept donations of this amount of hair (Groups like Locks of Love require 10-12 inches, I believe). So just as an FYI...I found a group called Children with Hairloss. My hair is all packaged up and ready to be sent off. I am trusting this is a legitimate organization, if not they are the ones stuck with a "ponytail" of my hair (which is kind of gross if you think about it) and I have lost nothing but the small cost of postage.

Bieber Fever Part 2

Finally

This poor wall in our living room has been "naked" for five years until just the other day...

KJ and I got creative and came up with this little something which we didn't have to spend even a penny on! The Baltzells passed along the window which came out of their house, KJ attached an old wire hanger to the back, I found these cute little drawings in a Real Simple magazine and added the A (which came from our dear friends Maile and Ben as a gift to Avlynne) and Voila! Our wall is no longer naked!

We Love Weekends!

Now that I am done with school and the craziness of studying that must take place on weekends, this Johnson Family is loving our weekends and loving not having a stressed-out Mama who can't have fun! If I haven't mentioned this before, now is the time...I have an AMAZING husband and this past weekend was a prime example of his amazingness! He officiated the weddings (yes I added an s to the end of wedding making it plural) of two wonderful couples we have come to know and love over the past 8 or so years through Young Life. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures but I can guarantee you that the Smiths and Dezellems were looking extra good on their special days!

So the weekend started off with two rehearsals friday evening along with a sleepover with one of our favorite five-year-old friends, Addy. Then Saturday morning KJ gave me the most amazing gift of waking up with Avlynne, loading her up in the stroller to go for a run and returning with a hot Grande non-fat latte from Starbucks in hand (this guy really knows what his lady likes)! We then had a great morning of watching the Little Mermaid, reading books, and searching for bugs outside. Then the wedding craziness hit...the 1st wedding was at 4:30 on Bigelow Gulch. The 2nd wedding was at 6:00 pm way up on the South Hill! We drove back and forth for both ceremonies and both receptions. Somehow KJ kept the two different ceremonies straight and didn't even mess up the names considering one of the brides was Jen and the other was Jenny! We felt very blessed to be a part of both of these special weddings!

Sunday morning KJ rallied and had the opportunity to be on a panel of speakers at our church regarding living missionally, something we are continuously figuring out how to do. After church I said goodbye to my beautiful WhiteWater kayak. She found a good home though with a REAL Canadian Mountie, which made the goodbye a little easier! After good, but all too short, naps for all 3 of us, we headed off to spend some time in the pool with Avlynne's Grandma Connie, and 2 Great Aunts! The weekend came to a perfect end with a lovely dinner at the home of the

McDonalds with Lauren and Michael Bailey! Lets just say that my husband rocked it this weekend and that this whole no-homework life is rather glorious and a gift

I don't ever want to take for granted!

Avlynne's Room

Yes, a room is just a room, a place to sleep and store your clothes. However, to me a room is also a place to escape from the world, a sanctuary of sorts. When we found out we were having a baby, my mind started dreaming of creating a special little nest for our little one. With limited time and resources, yet an endless list of ideas and possibilities, I enlisted the troops. The room came together in such a fun and special way that I can only be reminded of how the Lord is truly interested in even the most seemingly insignificant details of His children's lives. I wanted to make sure and document these details so as to never forget to give God all the glory.

Fabric: I am blessed to have a Mom who can sew and quilt like its nobodies business. KJ and I picked out some fun Amy Butler fabric at the Top Stitch. One of the things I love about KJ is how he is willing to go into a fabric store with me and actually get excited about finding just the right fabric. This fabric is extra special because the collection was being discontinued the week we found it and the amount left in the store turned out to be the perfect amount needed to make the items we wished for. My Mom made the curtains for both windows, bumpers, a skirt for the crib and a beautiful quilt. She is amazing!

Paint: We wanted colors that could be used with a variety of other colors depending on the future members of our family. We had fun picking these out...the green is called Retro Avocado and the brown was made to match the fabric. KJ and a guy he knows through Young Life, Gavin, did the painting. I must admit that when I saw the colors on the wall, it left me wondering if we should lay down bright orange Shag carpet and call it good. I am also wondering when the day will come when Avlynne states how much she hates the colors green and brown and just wants a pretty pink room. All well, for now we love it and she seems to like it too. My favorite is how the green "glows" on a beautiful sunny afternoon, I just can't help but be cheered up!

Furniture: One of my favorite things about Avlynne's room is how every piece of furniture holds within it different memories. The bookshelf came from IKEA along with other pieces to a bedroom set my Mom bought for me with some of her inheritance money when I was a junior in college. The deep shelves are perfect for storing all kinds of treasures and I can't wait to see what Av and other Johnson kids will fill it up with over the years. The changing table was a hand-me-down from a friend who used it for her sweet daughter, Addy. The crib came from Seattle. My brother-in-law, J.B., retrieved it for us from his brother, Sam, after they were done using it for their two kids, Elise and James. The dresser was a hand-me-down to my parents 44 years ago when they moved to Kirkland for my Dad to be a Pastor at Rosehill Presbyterian Church. A family with 4 daughters, one of which was named Lynne, who I am named after and now Avlynne is named after, gave it to my parents. My Grandpa striped and refinished the dresser long before I entered the Clegg family and I have fond memories of having it in my room as a young girl. I diligently dusted and polished the dresser as if I knew I wanted to take good care of it so it would last for my children someday. I gave it some special touches with new knobs from Anthropologie (Thanks to Jillian Zieske) and cute paper from World Market lining the drawers. The rocking chair was a steal of deal we found at Shopko. My mother-in-law and KJ's Aunt are Rockstars when it comes to the Morning-After-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy. The chair originally cost $500 and was a doorbuster item on sale for $150. They got there early, fought through the crowds and laid their claim on one of the brown chairs. As an extra bonus, my brother-in-law, Eric, works at Shopko and got us his employee discount! Lastly, the Rug found us at Bed, Bath and Beyond. KJ and I weren't specifically looking for a rug that day although we had been hoping for one as we wanted a least one "soft" place in our house of hardwood floors. The rug was 75% off and we snagged it without knowing if it would be the right measurements. Of course when we got home and unrolled it we were excited to see how perfectly it fit!

Other Special Touches: I love lamps and we had to get creative with lighting in this room because there is no ceiling light so we rummaged through our house and found what we could. The Owl light on top of the bookshelf was the only purchase made for lighting, it came from Target, a store I LOVE, and was too cut to pass up, especially since it matched the owl painting. My dear friend Amy Mack gifted us with a certificate to use to find something from UpperCase Living, which she sells. I found these dainty little pink flowers which I thought were perfect for brightening up the dark brown wall. Lastly, some very sweet women I used to work with at Avalon Care Center made Avlynne her very own name sign.

So that is Avlynne's precious room, a smattering of memories, blessings and stories. Most importantly though, is the gift of the little girl who plays and sleeps in this room. We feel fortunate to have been able to create a nest for her and don't ever want to take it for granted. Ultimately, we know the most important part of her room are the memories that have and will be created within it's four walls!

Bieber Fever

Yes, it is true...Bieber Fever has officially hit the Johnson Household. I'm not quite sure how it happened, we don't even own his C.D. yet my 16-month-old daughter can't stop singing "Baby, Baby, Baby OH!" I think she must have picked it up during our time at Malibu and I must admit that it is pretty stinking cute! As of yesterday she has begun to adapt the song to fit whatever she wants to sing about such as "Mama, Mama, Mama OH!" and "Owie, Owie, Owie OH!" Of course capturing this on video is not the easiest task but maybe I will make a job out of it one of these days and see what I can come up with. If anything this new talent of hers really helped her to connect with her 9-year-old girl 2nd cousins this past weekend at a family reunion in Portland.

Our one-year-old

Actually Avlynne is about 13 1/2 months at this point which is totally nuts for me to think about. I am convinced this has been the fastest year of my life. Sure some of the days have been REALLY long but before I know it a week has passed, then a month, then a year and now we are beginning to start celebrating 2nd things with Av, like the 2nd blooming of our spring daffodils, her 2nd Easter, visiting Daddy at Track practice for a 2nd season...crazy!

Here are a few pictures of her in a fun outfit that Ella's parents brought her from Germany wearing an adorable bow made by my dear friend Amy Hook with Hooked on Bows.

Yes, her outfit is slightly "Christmasy" but I figured it was fitting since I have seen more snow than sunshine this past week. Today Avlynne discovered a new "trick." She was having some no-clothes-on-time and discovered how to undo her diaper. As she nakedly and proudly toddled around the house carrying her diaper I decided I had to get a picture. Unfortunately I took too long getting the camera and the cuteness came to an end when she peed on the floor and then slipped and fell in it, poor thing. Maybe she will learn that keeping her diaper on is a good idea, if not, it might be time for me to invest in some duct tape (a trick I learned from my Brother-in-Law)!

Avlynne Kay Johnson 1st Christmas

A photo compilation of Avlynne Kay Johnson's 1st Christmas with her family. Enjoy!