A Very Merry Christmas!

Some highlights from our Christmas Season!  We have so much to smile about this year!

Canyon Lake Snow Day!

Annual Christmas concert and Johnson Family dinner!

Christmas celebration with the extended Johnson Family

Doing a little "Christmas Cooking!"  Reindeer face sandwiches!

 

Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, depending on how you look at it!!  Wink, Wink!

Our special gift!

Santa brought the boys the "golfing sets" that they have been asking him for since the beginning of December!

Mommy and Daddy got the boys bikes!

Blowing out the candles on this year's "Happy Birthday, Jesus" cake!

Papa built a sandbox for the boys in our backyard for their Christmas gift this year!

Meet Dylan James!

Our newest bouncing bundle of a boy arrived on Christmas Eve morning and what a blessing he is!  We are so in love all over again!  Dylan weighed 8lbs, 10oz and was 20 inches long.  Carson and Parker are adjusting to being big brothers and can't get enough of the little guy!  They are so good with him and want to hold and kiss him ALL DAY LONG!!  My labor and delievery was quick (although not as fast as with Parker) and relatively painless, once I got my epidural!  However, all was not without drama!  I got to the hospital only to be told there was no room for me...excuse me?!?!?  I'm having a BABY here!!!  I was put in some sort of bed with a curtain around it (like the triage of an ER department) and told I could deliver there.  Great.  I've always dreamed of delivering a baby right next to some complete stranger on the other side of the curtain who was listening in on the whole ordeal.  However, I couldn't have an epidural in the "curtain room" (also known by me as "the stable") because there was no way for the nurses to monitor me.  I was told that being in "the stable" with no epidural was better however, than delivering in the hallway.  REALLY?!?  Am I in America??  I want a bed AND an epidural, please!!!  Don't I have the right to choose this for myself and am I really asking too much??  Long story short, finally got into a room, got the heaven-sent epidural in time and Dylan made his grand entrance in about two big pushes!  Despite all the madness of the day, he was here in time to celebrate Christmas and was the best gift we could have received this year!  We headed home Christmas afternoon and life as a family of 5 has been wondeful so far!  Here are some pics of the newest addition!

 

 

 

  

Coming home from the hospital in his Santa suit on Christmas Day!  (I've always wanted a baby young enough to put in a Santa suit...lucky Dylan!!)

Falalalala...lalalala

What a fun time we've been having this month preparing for Christmas!  Something about the knowledge that Dylan could be here at any moment, increases the urgency to do all of the special "Christmasy" activities with Carson and Parker as possible.  We have been so blessed in the past few weeks to share with the boys the traditions of the season that Jeff and I feel are most important to our family.  As we talk about the birth of our Savior with them, it's obvious that they are really starting to "get it" (okay, well Carson does!)  We've continued on with the tradition of the Advent Calendar again this year with each day bringing something fun to look forward to.  So far, we've baked, created art projects together, gone to Disneyland, attended tree lighting ceremonies, had breakfast with Santa, toured Christmas lights in our jammies with hot chocolate, played in the snow, watched Christmas movies at home as well as at the movie theaters, went to a Christmas concert and toured the lights at the beautiful Mission Inn in downtown Riverside!  Whew...I wasn't kidding when I said we've been trying to squeeze it all in!!  =)   The magic of Christmas and the celebration of Jesus' birth is alive and well in our hearts and our home.  We hope you are experiencing special moments together with your friends and family during these weeks as well!  Merry early Christmas!

Celebrating a New Little Life

I don't care how many babies someone has, they all deserve to be loved and celebrated.  Just a personal belief of mine but man, the life of a newborn is such an INCREDIBLE gift and blessing.  Jeff and I feel so lucky to be able to be parents soon to our third son and feel even more lucky to have some great friends who came alongside us during this time to share in our excitement!  Here are a few pics from Dylan's baby shower.  The theme was "Pickles and Ice Cream!"  How fun!  I was overwhelmed with diapers, wipes, lotions, shampoo, and other nursery "essentials."  What mom doesn't love that??  After all, how am I supposed to make it to CostCo for these supplies with THREE kids in tow?!?!  Thank you, special friends and sisters!!  =)