Introducing....Baxter!

We've been thinking for a while now that we wanted a dog, but we never really acted upon it. This past week a friend of mine told me about a girl she knew that had some puppies she wanted to give away. I called the girl and was able to pick up our little guy today. Addyson knew right away that she wanted to name him Baxter, we think it really fits him:)

He's 1/2 Australian Shepherd and 1/2 Jack Russell Terrier; he looks like a Yellow Lab now, but thank goodness he won't get over about 30 lbs. I got to meet his Mom and Dad today and they're both really great laid back dogs, we'll see what their offspring proves to be!

He's really sweet, and by the pictures, he obviously does well with his new sisters...

I told Ryan today that this is the boy he'll never have, haha

I'm sure our newest little addition would love some visitors so come by anytime to meet him!

Frosting

This morning just after I woke up, and like I do every single morning, I opened all the blinds in the house to see what kind of day we've got going on. This morning I noticed that all the rooftops around us were covered in a beautiful frost. This is about the closest thing we'll most likely get to real snow this Winter. Shortly after I woke up, I heard Addyson stirring around so I had to show her my findings too. I opened the blinds in her room and she says, "Mom! It looks like there's frosting on those houses!" Cute girl:)

By the time I could get outside to take some pics lots of the frost had melted, it's a beautiful day with lots of sunshine.

Here are a few pics of our house with some ice on the eaves, Ryan's truck with ice on top and a few neighbor's houses.

I can almost hear our families in Utah and Alaska chuckling at the thought of "frost" on the rooftops here when they see tons of snow all Winter long, haha

I AM actually ready for Summer, dare I say it?? I'm ready to get some pool time in, I love Summer, I am Texas girl after all...

A Shower for Baby Boy Pope!

So the big shower was last night and fun was had by all! I, along with Melanie's 2 best friends, Liz and Jakki, hosted the shower at my house and there was such a big turnout! Melanie got lots of great stuff for the baby and it was a fun party with a chance to meet new people and to catch up with old friends.

We're excited about meeting the little guy next month, newborns are so sweet!!

44th President of the USA

For journaling/scrapbooking purposes I feel like I need to make note here on my blog about the swearing in of our new president, Barack Obama.

Although I am not a supporter, I believe this is definitely a mark in our nation's history, for the good or bad, we'll see in a few years...

My New Favorite Picture

Here's a picture of my 3 most favorite people in the entire world...I found them snuggled up in the kitchen after I got dressed this morning. This is what love is to me!

Gotta Love Crock Pots

I've been lacking in the posting recipes department, so here's one I plan on making for dinner tonight. I found it on an All Recipes application on my iphone, love this thing, it has changed my life(my iphone, not All Recipes;-)

It's a Crock Pot recipe, one of my favorite inventions of our time;

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken

1 tbsp vegetable oil
10(but I plan on only using about 5)boneless chicken breasts
3/4 c honey
3/4 c soy sauce
3 tbsp ketchup
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp minced fresh ginger root
1 20 ounce pineapple tidbits, drained with juice reserved
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 c water

Directions-
Heat oil in skillet just over medium heat, and cook chicken evenly browned on both sides. Place in slow cooker.

In a bowl mix honey, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, ginger, and reserved pineapple juice. Pour over chicken in the crock pot.

Cover and cook for 4 hours on high(my crock pot seems to cook fast, so I'll cook the chicken on low). Stir in pineapple tidbits just before serving.

Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. Remove chicken from slow cooker. Blend in the cornstarch mixture into remaining sauce in the slow cooker to thicken. Serve sauce over chicken.
Happy Sunday!

***A little treat Addyson had after her lunch today, the thing was almost bigger than her head!

No News, But That's Good News

Not a whole heck of a lot has been going on in the Johnson Household as of late(which really, that is a good thing), but the girls are keeping us busy as usual. I have one that's wanting to talk really bad, and one that gets funnier by the day!

Ryan has been gone a lot since the holidays came to a close, and that includes traveling, leaving early, and sometimes coming home late. We've all gotten used to saying, "Bye, Dad" quite a bit it seems, and yesterday Lane joined in on the goodbyes as well.

The girls and I were about to leave to go on a walk around the neighborhood and when we got close to the front door Delaney said, "Bye, Dad", as plain as day. Too funny. I don't remember Addyson putting 2 words together until she was a bit older than Delaney is at 14 months. Addyson and I just looked at each other and started laughing. Delaney is a funny little girl. She and Ryan have this thing; He'll ask her, "What does a snake say??" And she says, "Sssssss". I have a smart girl on my hands!

Today while Addyson was at school Ryan and I had fun playing with just Delaney, something we don't usually get to do. She even wandered into big sister's room, something highly forbidden when Addyson is home, shhh! I took some cute pics of her, she's so curious and loves walking from room to room upstairs.

Addyson is getting a real sense of humor about her lately. She's pretty quick witted, something she gets from her Dad and one of the things I most love about him:-) He can get me laughing so hard...

Tonight it was bedtime for Addyson and Ryan had just finished running on the treadmill. He asked her if he could read her a bedtime story and she says, "Dad, you're sweaty, maybe when you're clean." Ha! She was worried that her books and bed would get sweat on them. Such a girl's girl!

Today before she went to school I took some pics of her, it was really cold outside so I let her wear her favorite boots. This girl loves the camera!

Now if only my husband that keeps me laughing and I could get a babysitter for some time away...I told myself on Monday morning that it was on my to-do list to line up a babysitter for this weekend, it got away from me and it's now the weekend, *sigh*...

Sweets For My Sweets!

Ryan has been out of town all week, so I thought I'd treat the girls and myself to something special since we're missing him a bunch. I can officially say I'm ready for him to get home, I'm really missing that extra set of hands to help around here at night, plus I just like his company;-)

There's this candy store in New York City called Dylan's Candy Bar that I've always wanted to go to, but seeing as how a trip to NYC is not in the cards in the near future I kind of gave up on that idea. A friend of mine mentioned that there's one in Houston(how did I not know this??) and I was so excited! It's in The Galleria so I knew a trip over there was in order...

After Delaney's nap today I got the girls ready and told Addyson we were headed somewhere neat but I didn't tell her where. The anticipation had her so much on the edge of her seat that she fell asleep in the car on the way there, ha!

We finally arrived at Dylan's(Dylan is Dylan Lauren, Ralph Lauren's daughter, so you know the place has to be pretty special...)and we were so excited! I told Addyson to grab a bag, and to have at it! She chose all kinds of fun stuff for her bag, and I got one too, only mine didn't have near as much stuff inside, sugar and I aren't usually the best of friends. I wanted to take some pics of the inside of the store, but there were no cameras allowed, here's a peek as to what the inside of the store looks like.

We had a great time, and Delaney even had her first taste of one of my all time favorites, a Gummy Coke Bottle, she was pretty taken by it, that's my girl!

I took some cute pics of our outing. I had a great time with my girls and for just a little while we forgot all about missing our Dada.....

2009, Really?

Didn't seem like that long ago that I was a 24 year old working at Sterling Capital Mortgage, trying to get to the nearest gas station on New Year's Eve Y2K to fill up my little Civic. Oh the panic that everyone had over who knows what was going to happen in the new millennium...We all survived it and here we are 9 crazy years later living the good life!

We stayed pretty quiet this New Year's. We played some games with Addyson before she went to bed, made a few yummy snacks, drank our sparkling cider, then turned in by 11:30. Waiting up that extra 30 minutes was not going to happen. We can stay up til' all hours, but the little ones will still be up by 7:00 am!

Today we took down all the evidence of Christmas, and how sad was that?! I love the holidays and it's always a let down to say good bye to them for another year. We had a wonderful holiday season in 2008 so I have some pretty great memories to reflect upon.

I'm really excited for 2009, I think this will be a great year. We have lots of fun things to look forward to. We start with the birth of Baby Boy Pope coming at the end of February, a visit from LeeAnn in March, some home renovations this Summer, a visit to Ryan's parents in Alaska hopefully in August, Addyson starting private Kindergarten in the Fall(her birthday is 9/3, she JUST missed the cutoff), and a trip to Disneyland to celebrate the holidays. Whew! Sounds like a lot already and it's only January 1!

Looking forward to what the year brings, and we pray that everyone is as blessed in 2009 as they were in 2008...

***Gotta have Black Eyed Peas for good luck!