Christmas 2009

This Christmas was so much fun. The kids are all at a really fun age. Malaya was really into the magic of Christmas and brought Natalie along with her. Steven just loved all the lights and colors and of course the wrapping paper.

Our Christmas Tree!

I decided to get brave and make a gingerbread house with the kids. I forgot to read all of the instructions before beginning and so we ended up doing it on 2 different nights.

The second night that we worked on it we had a neighbor boy over. Jeremy has quite the personality and made it even more fun to make it.

The finished product!

We spent Christmas this year in Washington with Scott's parents. It was a 14 hour drive but the weather cooperated and it was an okay drive. Each year I make the girls Christmas dresses for the Sunday before Christmas. This year half way through the dresses I hurt my shoulder and wasn't able to finish them. So I went and found a good deal at Kohl's. They all looked so cute!

On Christmas Eve we got together with all of Scott's Family that live in Moses Lake. We had a yummy dinner and then a gift exchange and a white elephant game.
Natalie fell asleep before the night even started.

The girls got the Disney Barbie dolls they had been asking for and were so excited.

They had a lot of fun playing with their second cousin Stevie and cute little Holly in the background. (I am pretty sure that it is Holly, but it might be Mariah. They are twins. Either way they had fun with them.)

After the party we went home and Mrs. Claus brought us pajamas.

Christmas Morning was so much fun. Malaya woke up walked into the kitchen to see if Santa had eaten his cookies. She came in the living room and told us very seriously that he had eaten them. It was hilarious.

Happy Holidays!

Shoulder Update

Thankfully I didn't actually tear my rotator cuff. My shoulder was just getting worse so I decided to go to a specialist on Thursday. He said that I had an acute impingement which basically means I caught the muscle between the bones and bruised it really bad. Bad News... it is just as painful. Good news... it heals much quicker.

What a Week! And it is only Tuesday

Last weekend started out wonderful. Saturday we packed up and headed to Salt Lake to see the sites and the lights and go to a friends wedding. We met up with my sister and her friend for lunch and then did a little shopping. As we were driving to the trax station I reached back to help the baby and felt a horrible pain in my shoulder. We took trax from Sandy which the girls loved. They couldn't get over how fast we were going and that they didn't have to wear a seat belt. We got there and they hadn't turned on the lights yet so we took a tour of the beehive house. We have been learning about the prophets in Family Night so the kids thought it was fun to be in a prophets house. Then we went and saw the lights and the Nativity. We took trax back to Sandy and drove to West Jordan for the wedding reception. We got there just in time to say congrats and chat for a minute and then they left.

Sunday Scott went to his meetings and I was trying to get the kids ready for church, but my shoulder was hurting so bad that I had very little use of my left arm. I called him and he ran and got me a sling and helped me finish getting everyone ready and loaded in the car. Scott and I both had to teach this week so it was a little crazy. Monday morning came and the pain in my shoulder was so bad that I couldn't get myself dressed. I went to my Doctor and they said that I tore my rotator cuff. I have to be in a sling for the next two weeks and then I will start physical therapy.

Today my baby was running a fever and Natalie was playing with an ornament, broke it, and cut her hand deep enough to need 2 stitches.

Thankfully we have wonderful neighbors and friends who have been here for me. My Relief Society President came and got all of my laundry. I didn't realize how much you use two hands. I have a hard time doing just about everything. But we are going to Washington for a week and so my in-laws and husband will be able to help with the kids.

My Baby is ONE!!!

My Baby is one!! I can't believe it. It feels like just yesterday I was bringing him home from the hospital. He is such a joy. He is crawling everywhere, walking around the furniture and anything else that he can stabilize on. He is up and down are stairs as fast as lightning. He is starting to talk, nothing major just Mama, Dada, no, ya, hi, and some attempts to say his sisters names. He loves playing with cars and balls and tormenting his sisters. He and his daddy are best friends. Yesterday he was crying and I couldn't figure out why so in desperation I asked what he wanted and he said Dada.

So once again in Johnson tradition... Here is the story. Stevens pregnancy was not much fun. I was really sick for the first 4 months and then I was on partial bed rest for most of the rest of the pregnancy. After 4 months of contractions I was so sick of being pregnant. At my 38 week appointment I begged my doctor to strip my membranes. He did and then I prayed that it would work but not to quickly because I didn't want him and Natalie to have the same birthday and it was her birthday when I went in for my appointment. I had a few minor contractions but that was it so I decided to have a birthday party for Natalie. I spent the rest of the day making her cake and cleaning. I was having contractions but that was the story of this pregnancy so I wasn't to worried about it. We had some neighbors come over for the party and when they got there my friend suggested I call my mom because my contractions were pretty convincing. I called and mom headed to our house. We had a great party but I think I scared the other kids because every few minutes my belly would harden and I would breath hard. They all went home and my mom and sister arrived and of course my contractions stopped. Scott didn't want to go to bed because we have gone in early in the morning each time to have our babies. Around midnight it had been a couple of hours since I had had any contractions so we went to bed. The second that Scott started snoring the contractions came back. I breathed through them for a while and then I decided I had better start timing them. When they started coming 3 minutes apart I woke up my husband and said it was time to go. We woke up my mom and my sister and they decided they wanted to come so we called a neighbor. Mom insisted that Scott and I go ahead and she and Lindsey would follow when the neighbor came. We went to the hospital and they were about a minute apart. We had to wait at the entry desk so that they would let us in to the labor and delivery area. Then we had to wait at the registration desk well they found our registration. They finally took me back to the room and asked for a urine sample. I tried and the second I sat down my water broke and I had to push. Mom and Lindsey walked in and yelled for my Doctor. He came in and Scott and the nurse carried me to the bed. 2 pushes later he was there. It was kind of funny that my sister was there because she was also almost born in the toilet.

Steven Dee Cornelsen was born Dec. 4 at 5:02 am 7lbs 3 oz 19 inches long. Here are some sweet pictures of my baby.

Here is his birthday cake. We did a joint party for him and Natalie at my parents house last week. Scott made this cake while I made Natalie's. I think he did a great job.

Steven wasn't hesitant he went right for his cake but just licked the frosting a finger at a time.

He got into it quickly though especially after we gave him a spoon. He loved it and was mad when we took him away from it 20 minutes later. He was so much fun. He tried sharing it and when no one wanted it. He smeared it on uncle Spencer. So much fun!!! Happy Birthday Steven! We love you!

Three years ago today!!

So my little Natalie Rhae is 3 today. Crazy... She is such a fun child. Her favorite color is yellow and her favorite food is Macaroni. She loves Go Diego Go. She has the best sense of humor. She loves to share and talk.

Every year I make the kids a cake of their choosing. They love to help and to eat the extra frosting :)

Alright so in Johnson tradition... Here is the story. Three years ago I was doing every thing that I could to not be pregnant anymore. Even though there was still a couple of weeks until my due date. I tried caster oil (don't do it ever! It is horrible and it doesn't work), walks, bumpy car rides, bouncing on an exercise ball. Basically what ever I could think of. I think I was desperate because Malaya was 5 days late and I had been having false labors for a month. In fact the week before I was in the hospital for a couple of hours but no such luck. I had my membranes stripped on Thursday and had some pretty convincing contraction... Actually it was like all day hard and getting closer together so that night I called my mom, dropped Malaya off at my aunts house and went in. I was not really progressing so they sent me home. I told the nurse that I was planning on going natural and she told me that if I tolerated real labor like I did false there was no way. Mom stayed for until Saturday but she had to get home so she took Malaya and left. Well Saturday I slept and then that night I turned on a movie and bounced on an exercise ball. Scott asked that night if we should put on the plastic sheet in case my water broke. I told him that there was like a 20% chance that my water would brake so not to worry about it. Well about two in the morning I woke up and sat up in bed when a huge gush of water soaked me and the bed. Needless to say Scott was so mad. We went in and mom came back up to be with me for delivery. At 4:54 am Natalie Rhae was born 7lbs 6 oz 19 inches long. I did it naturally thanks to my wonderful mother and husband.

I love dressing my girls the same.

She was such a happy baby.

And now she is a happy and sassy little girl!

Happy Birthday Rhae! We love you!