Impromptu Photo Session

It's been in the back of my mind recently that I want to get some really good professional pics of the girls done. While I'm in the process of trying to find just the right person for the job, I thought we'd get some cute ones of our own!

Around 4:30 this afternoon I gave up and got Delaney out of her bed after I figured out she wanted no part of her 2nd nap of the day(which she really needed). I brought her outside to play with Addyson in the front yard, and after I sat her down in the grass for the first time, she really liked it. She was smiling, the lighting was great, it was picture time!

I got a few cute shots, then I decided to change both girls into some cute dresses, and this was a great time to try out the birthday dress that Grandma Fackrell made for Addyson. We had a great mini-session, I think what we got turned out fairly well, given the no nap Delaney situation, and Addyson was tired and not feeling all that great herself.

After we added their favorite stuffed animals to the mix, we started seeing some great little smiles...

Earlier in the day Ryan and Addyson put on some boxing gloves and got after it... So, would you agree that Ryan really needs a son?? ;-)

We got some really great pictures of our little ones today, these are some of our favorites!

Hooray for Electricity!

Ok, I really thought this was blog worthy news; My sister Brandy just called......She has electricity again, whoo-hoo! I'm beyond thrilled for her. Ike knocked their power out for almost 2 weeks, and today just after she got home from running errands it came back on.

Congrats Lahieres, you deserve all the A/C, lights, internet, flat iron usage, etc., that you could possibly use!!

**Here's a pic of the happy couple, probably with even bigger smiles right about now:)

Missionaries, brownies, garage cleaning and teething

We've had a not so exciting last week, I'm happy to say. The week before last consisted of gearing up for the wrath of Ike, watching weather reports, getting some last minute supplies, moving outside stuff inside(pot plants, trampoline, my wreath, etc), and waiting. This last week was a long one. Ryan worked a TON(ask him how happy I was about that, ha ha), and the girls and I stayed inside and didn't go many places because we wanted to conserve the gas in my car as much as possible. The lines to get it were ridiculous, I didn't want any part of that. This week things are really back to normal in our neck of the woods, thank goodness. Unfortunately my sister Brandy and her family still don't have power and they're not expected to get it back until next week. I feel really bad for her!

We did have the missionaries from our church over for dinner this past Friday night. They were a welcomed sight after the long week we had experienced before. We always love having them in our home, they bring with them such a great spirit, and they always appreciate the heck out of the food we feed them! Ryan really "did it up" for them. We had steak, sausage, salmon, salad, baked potatoes, and Addyson made her very first batch of brownies(the pic of her shows how much she enjoyed the fruits of her labor) for them. Delaney didn't know what to think of them, all she really sees are her Mom and Dad, sister and the cats normally. She sat in her Exersaucer and studied them for a while(anyone that knows Delaney knows she is a real deep thinker;). We laughed so hard at her staring at them so I had to get my camera; the moment I snapped the picture and she caught a glimpse of the flash she started smiling, silly girl. Can you tell that she's used to the camera in her face all of the time!?!? She's got 8 teeth now, do you think we've been having fun with the whole teething thing? I think we've been keeping Motrin in business these last 7 months!

Saturday Ryan decided to tackle the cleaning out and organizing of the garage, it was a long process, and he still has a bit left to do. He also brought home a new TV and mounted it in the garage, the ultimate haven for any male. He's now got his weights, punching bag, and speed bag in the garage, and a TV to watch football on while he's working out. I told him there should be no more football games watched inside the house anymore, except the Texans of course. I took some pics of the newly updated garage, keep in mind there's still plenty to do in there, but it looks much better than it did. Way to go Ryan!

Addyson got to go to Gymnastics this AM and before we left I got a really cute pic of her and her Dad, one I'll be framing for sure.

Oh and, Happy Autumn! I love the first day of Fall each year...

We weathered the storm

Thank the Good Lord! That was a scary night and we were all pretty anxious.

The high winds started around 10 pm, and lasted all night until about 8 the next morning. Between the wind, rain, texting Brandy, Bobby, and Melanie, and with Delaney up every hour, there wasn't much sleep going on that night. Brandy still had power during the night so she was texting me with any new updates on the storm, but their power eventually went off too.
Ryan and Addyson slept more than Delaney and me, so at least we weren't ALL completely exhausted the next day.

There is lots of damage throughout Houston and Galveston, but luckily nothing major happened in our area of Katy, just West of Houston. We really lucked out. They're estimating the insurance claims to be up over $16 Billion, crazy.

My parents(who live in NW Houston)and my sister Brandy(who live in Tomball, NW of Houston)are still without power, as are thousands of people in the area. Luckily ours was only out for about 20 hours. We have a generator that we plugged our refrigerator, some fans, and a few other things into so that was nice. No A/C though, that's the most difficult part about having no power.

After watching the aftermath of the storm on TV, we feel that much more blessed about the position that our family was left in after that horrible storm was over.

***Some pics of the damage around town and in Galveston. The Cinco Ranch Family Medical Center is about 2 miles from our house.

Watching and waiting

Looks like this is the day that Hurricane Ike is set to make landfall. He seems to have set his sights on SE TX, specifically Galveston, Surfside Beach, several other coastal communities, and the Houston metro area.

We're pretty much ready here in the Johnson household so I feel good about that. Both cars have full gas tanks(thanks Ryan!), we have 5 cases of water, plenty of canned goods, extra gas cans, and a generator. I'm grateful that our church teaches us to be prepared!

Ryan, with the help of Addyson, tried to secure some of the loose boards on the fence in our backyard just to be safe.

The things I'm most concerned about with this storm are the high winds and the possibility of some windows breaking. They're forecasting winds in our area to be upwards of 70 + MPH. I don't want Addyson to get too freaked out when all this is happening, that's why tonight she'll sleep in our bed, and we'll move Delaney's crib to the hall just off of our room. I don't want any of us sleeping near any windows. We probably should have boarded up the windows just to be safe, but it's too late now.

I'm really not looking forward to the power outage we'll have. No electricity in Houston in September is NOT a good thing. A/C is a must and life will be pretty uncomfortable without it.


I'm washing clothes like a mad woman today because I don't know when I'll get to use my washer and dryer again after today.

It's just an eerie feeling around because it's such a pretty and sunny day outside, but at the same time, there's this horrible storm headed our way in just a few hours. I'm grateful that we have the knowledge that there is a storm approaching.

We took the girls to the park earlier to get some last minute energy out, who knows how long we'll be stuck inside. Delaney got to swing for the first time, she loved it. And Addyson met a new friend, so it was a nice distraction from all the weather reports and pending storm.

We'll be doing lots of praying today that Heavenly Father keeps a close watch over us. I'm sure I won't have access to the computer for a few days, but we'll update after everything blows over and we have electricity back.

First try at Gymnastics

This morning Delaney and I took big sister to a trial class to see if she liked the whole gymnastics thing. Turns out she did! Lucky for us about 5 students were out today so she and 2 other kids got some great one on one attention. Addyson really paid attention to what Coach Melissa said and had lots of fun in the process.

She met a new friend named Grace, and her Mom and I decided to take the girls next door for hamburgers after class. We had a great time and now look forward to Mondays at 11:00!

**Some of the pics are a bit blurry because I was taking them through glass, I think the coach wasn't too keen on me taking pictures so I stopped, but I certainly could have taken more! ;-)

"Meet the Classroom" day at school

This morning it was meet your classroom day at Addyson's new school. It was good practice for us having to get up and out of the house so we could get there by 9:00. We made it(with time to spare, surprisingly) to St. Peter's to see Addyson's brand new school and class! Her age group's class mascot is the dolphin, which Addyson thinks is pretty neat...

We got to see her teachers again, play with some toys, and meet some new friends. The little one wasn't ready when it was time to go, a great sign that she likes it.

Just as I snapped the last picture of the class Ryan says, "Umm, have you taken enough pictures?" I think he was embarrassed by my motherly instinct to take lots of pictures of my baby's first big girl class, oh well, I'm glad I got them! :)

We're excited for her to start next week, it's been a LONG Summer and we're all ready to get back into our school routine!

***The yellow picture is a collage that Ryan made. The teacher had us make a place mat for Addyson to eat her snacks and lunch on, so as you can see we had lots of fun with it!

Happy Birthday Addyson LeeAnn!

It's hard to believe that 4 years ago today our oldest made her big debut into our little family. It seems like it was only yesterday that we were driving pretty quickly from Lake Jackson to the hospital in Houston to have Addyson. On the way Ryan remembered that he didn't have a memory card for our new camera. I couldn't believe that we were going to have to stop on the way when I was having really BAD contractions already, oh that was a nightmare...

Addyson arrived the next morning at 3:45, guess she didn't really want any of us to get any sleep(and not much has changed;-)!

She is such a treasure to our family and we couldn't imagine life without her. She is my best friend, and I tell her daily...She is so funny, she is quick witted and keeps us laughing all the time. She's a great big sister to Delaney, she's so smart, and she's fun to snuggle...

I'm so blessed to have her in my life and I can't wait to see the person that she'll become one day, I know she'll definitely make a place for herself in this world.

I love you little one!

Welcome Fall!

OK so technically Fall is still a few weeks away, but I decided a few years ago that Labor Day was the kick off to Fall in my book.

Yesterday at the store I picked up a really good smelling pumpkin candle, and this morning I broke out my Fall wreath and out it on the front door.

After I lit the candle and put the wreath up I could see Ryan looking at me like maybe I was a crazy person;) I get so excited at the mere thought of cooler weather. I had so much energy this morning and got a ton of stuff done around here. I seem to move faster when it's colder. I know, I know, it's STILL in the upper 90's as far as the temps. around here go, but with my wreath up and the smell of pumpkin I'm officially in Fall mode.

I asked Addyson what she wanted to be for Halloween this year and she quickly responded, "Belle Mom! She is the prettiest princess!"(I started feeling a bit guilty at that moment that we opted not to go to Disney World this year). Then I asked her what Little Lane should be and she says, "A bug...A LADYBUG!" So I hunted for costumes online and found some really cute ones for my girls.

Now for that first fire in the fireplace...Bliss!

**and a cute pic of the little one just after her bath last night:)