January Days

On January 1 we celebrated Aleah’s four month birthday. A new year, a new start, and hopefully a turn towards a healthy 2010. No sooner than these thoughts came out of my mind, we received a call that my Uncle Earl had a heart attack. Back to the hospital we went. I am happy to say that he was very lucky and recovered quickly. And so started the beginning of the next decade.

New Year’s Day we spent much time reflecting on the ups and downs, blessings and struggles that we endured in 2009. The year was highlighted with the birth and survival of our third little girl. We know the Lord has big plans for Aleah. Her life has a purpose and we are so very thankful for the gift of being her parents. All three of our girls have blessed our lives in ways unimaginable.

We have always enjoyed the snow and this month we had plenty. We even purchased “snow” boots (well Southern “snow” boots, which are actually cute little rain boots that can do double duty) for the girls. Twice it snowed on Saturday’s bringing back fond memories of “our snow storm” and wintery wedding extravaganza!

The girls enjoyed building a snow lady. She was very impressive with a flower hat, button eyes, carrot nose and accessorized with a scarf and pink purse. And, she was almost as tall as Mommy! All three of us were proud of the effort.

Alivia and Avery have grown up so much in recent months. They both are incredibly bright, spunky and lovable. They constantly amaze and delight us with the things they say and do. They both got new short haircuts to start off 2010. And, by looking at them you would have thought several years had passed. They both “aged” through the process. Mommy was not ready for that.

Alivia is learning to read and do simple math. She loves to complete work book pages with surprising accuracy. Alivia is now officially registered for kindergarten. It is hard to believe that out sweet little sweet pea will soon walk into the wide, wide, world and begin the path to her future. Mommy is definitely not ready for that either. I just want to hug them and hold them and keep them little.

Avery is not far behind her big sister. She too loves learning—and playing. The girls play school with all their babies, lining them up on the stairs, in the halls, anywhere they find space to play circle time, lunch or car pool. They both have very active imaginations. It makes me smile to just listen to the conversations they have—both trying to direct the other on what to say. And then when they get “home” they are both mommies! Every time Avery pretends to get into her car she grabs an armful of bags filled with items for her babies—just like Mommy!

Aleah is really coming into her own little being. She reminds us of her two big sisters but by far has the largest personality – sweet as sugar and as feisty as a bee! Should be an interesting combination to watch develop. She is strong willed and a bit impatient, but when she flashes that smile she melts your heart. Yes, it is hard not to give her what she wants. She loves to be tickled and giggles uncontrollably when you get the right spot. At four months, she can sit on her own and stand holding on to a table. She started eating cereal this month and loves it!

To the Beach, the Ball, the Mountains and Back to Work

Our whirlwind fall concluded with a tour of the great state of North Carolina -- and beyond! The day after Thanksgiving the girls and Mommy packed the Suburban and headed east to join Meme, Papa, Christa and her friend Bayleigh at the beach. We had a great and quick get away. Aleah loved watching the sea gulls and Alivia and Avery enjoyed chasing the waves. And boy was Avery thrilled when the waves caught her -- new shoes and all! We left Daddy at home to continue the Christmas decorations. By the end of the weekend all but one tree was up, the stockings were hung and the outside garlands, wreaths and lights were ready to celebrate the season.

The following weekend started off with Avery's birthday on Friday with a full breakfast including all her favorites -- birthday pancakes, bacon, eggs and toast --followed by a party at preschool. Mommy and Aleah then attended Great Aunt Lucille's funeral while Daddy surprised Alivia as the mystery reader at preschool. The day ended with a family dinner at home for everyone who could come. The crowd was smaller than usual since Uncle Allen was in the hospital, Granddaddy Mercer was sick, Papa, Granddaddy and David all had to work unexpectedly and Sue and Scott could only stop by for a few minutes. With all the business of the day poor Avery was almost asleep before the party even started. She did perk up for presents and cake and then it was early to bed.

Saturday we continued the celebration with Avery's "Mickey Mouse" birthday party with her friends. She was thrilled that Layla, Danika, Alex, Savanah, Madison and of course her sisters and Christa were all in attendance. We rounded the evening out with a date at the Teddy Bear Ball!

The following week we spent a glorious six days in the Great Smoky Mountains. We had a blast in the cold, cold weather. The girls enjoyed seeing the mountains again.

Our trip was cut short by the news that Granddaddy Mercer and Uncle Allen were not doing well at all. At the time we did not realize the grim reality we would be facing once back in the "real world. "Granddaddy went to the hospital with a broken back and while there had surgery on his bladder and was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Uncle Allen was in a coma in CCU after a series of major strokes. December turned out to be a month full of hospital visits, juggling of schedules and family priorities and ultimately was defined by the sting of death. Uncle Allen went to be with our Lord on December 23. Christmas was difficult at best.

We tried to keep Christmas day special for the girls, but the entire celebration was just not the same.

And in the midst of all the unsettling events, I went back to work from maternity leave! Life is always full of surprises for us.

Sisters!

What a blessing to have three daughters who adore one another! I can't think of anything sweeter. Alivia's class made Thanksgiving turkeys from their hand prints and listed what they were most thankful for. While many of her friends were thankful for favorite toys, treats or other things, Alivia was thankful for Avery. It brought tears to our eyes to be reminded how much our girls love each other. I commented to Mark recently that my hope is that our girls will always be as close as they are now. They do everything together. Yes, they do have sibling moments of disagreement, but they are always short lived, and sooner than you can blink the girls are back giggling and playing with no cares in the world. You can feel the joys of childhood just looking in their bright eyes. We are so very thankful for our blessings but more than anything we are thankful for our three, happy, healthy little girls!

Fun with Creighton and Finley

Halloween at Aunt Cari and Uncle David's

Halloween at Dance

Life continues to whiz by. We had a jam-packed October full of family fun and, yes, lots of sweet treats. The girls had much fun celebrating the arrival of Fall: painting pumpkins with Stacey, carving jack-o-lanterns at Aunt Cari's; riding rides, indulging on cotton candy, candy apples, french fries and fudge at the fair; and dressing up as a butterfly, a snow fairy princess and a lil' pumpkin for the annual trick-or-treat trek around the neighborhood. We are enjoying life (all the crazy, sweet and rambunctious moments) with our three girls. Juggling has a new meaning in the Johnson house!

Alivia is doing great in school. She loves her class and teachers. She excelled on her "report card" and teacher conference last week. It brought tears to my eyes to hear the praises sung for our Alivia. She is growing up so quickly. I look at Aleah and remember how it seems like just yesterday that Alivia was our sweet little baby. Alivia's favorite ride at the fair was the swings. She rode alone, since Avery was not tall enough to ride, and smiled as brightly as the lights every time she spotted us waving from below. She is a great big sister and tries to keep everyone on track -- even Mommy and Daddy. She is very helpful, loving and tender-hearted. She loves to color, paint and do crafts of any kind.

Avery is FULL of life. Her eyes sparkle with anticipation of what she is going to get into next. Her conference with her teacher noted that she knows her letters, numbers and academically is advanced. And socially she is sweet, caring, helpful, can get bossy, likes things her way and is a born leader. That's our Avery! She is starting to write her name, is great at coloring and tracing letters and has learned her phone number (all things that have been homework assignments for Alivia). Avery's favorite ride at the fair was the Merry Go Round she rode with Daddy.

Aleah is so precious (as Avery calls her). She was two months on Sunday, November 1 (Grandma Beverly's Birthday.) She is getting big and loves to smile and "talk" to her sisters. She seems to change every day. We can see characteristics of both Alivia and Avery in her appearance and spirit. She still has blue eyes and her hair has both red and blond highlights -- depending on the light -- and her hair is very curly when wet. Aleah enjoyed a day of attention from Meme and Christa while the 'big girls' were enjoying the fair!

And our niece Christa is growing up, too. I see glimpses of her often when I look at Alivia. She is in the seventh grade and loves to dance. I have watched her dance since she was a tiny little girl and now have the honor of teaching her ballet en pointe. She is a great baby sitter and our girls just love spending time with her.