Finally!

For 6 weeks in November into December I had a cold. I would start to feel better and then I would have a relapse. My cold got so bad that I was awake coughing at night more than I was actually sleeping and I had to sleep on the futon so I wouldn't keep Joseph up all night. I could only say a few words before I was attacked with coughs. I got on antibiotics and a steroid and finally felt much better.

One of my last coughing fits left me doubled over gasping for breath to the point I almost had to vomit. It was awful. After that attack I remember my ribs hurting so bad I couldn't breath, play with Cita on the floor because I couldn't stand even her 17 lbs on my chest and I couldn't sleep on my back or my right side without terrible pain. I happen to know a good Orthopaedic PA and I consulted with him. Joseph said that I could have broken a rib or two. He also said that I could go in to get an xray but broken ribs are hard to diagnois and I wouldn't do anything differently than I was already doing to help my ribs.

After 6 weeks of sleeping on my left side--I'm a right side sleeper, always--my ribs are feeling much better. I can breath deeply, snuggle with my children and sleep in any position I want. I just hate to think that my ribs are brittle enough to get broken from coughing.

FYI

For those who wanted to see a picture of our bathroom I put vxa picture to the "Latest Project" post. It was hard to get a complete picture of our bathroom so I just stuck 1 picture in the post.

First talk in Primary

Kimball gave his first talk in Primary yesterday. We practiced all week and he had it memorized. When the time came to give his talk he was a little nervous and wanted help. He didn't speak loudly, but at least he gave it. We were proud of him. He wrote most of his talk by himself. Here is his talk:

I like the scriptures because they are true. They tell us the things we should do. I read them with my family at night time. I like the story about Abinadi talking to the bad king, Noah, because it is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Kimball really enjoys primary. We are memorizing the monthly scriptures as a family and learning the monthly songs.

Taboo Words

I have mixed feelings about Kimball growing up and getting more into movies and the words he hears. He has recently started saying words like: kill, hate, stupid and a few others I can't remember right now. It dawned on me that quite a few of these words he has picked up from Toy Story. I knew it was bou"nd to happen that he would be introduced to words that aren't allowed, but I was naive enough to think it would happen when he started school and not when he started watching movies. Who would have thought a movie about toys would teach him ugly words. We are just trying to teach him which words are okay to say and which ones will land him in time out. The ironic thing is that these words are coming from a boy who didn't learn the word "No" until after he starting going nursery at church and picked it up from another little boy. I know, I know, these words aren't terrible words and at least it isn't profanity, but I don't like hearing these words. Half the time he doesn't understand that they aren't nice words so it's a learning opportunity.

On the flip side it IS cute to hear him quoting different lines from the movie. He'll also quote lines from Cars as well.

Latest Project

Kimball and I started removing the wallpaper from our master bathroom on Rebecah's birthday. I gave Kimball the task of peeling off the paper that morning to keep him occupied while I put on my makeup. He was making good progress so I jumped on board. (I wasn't excited at all about removing the wall paper because my wonderful and patient Mother-in-law removed the paper in our kitchen a year ago when she came for Rebecah's birth. She struggled and struggled and struggled to remove the paper and I didn't want to face that but I knew our bathroom needed a makeover.) This wallpaper must have been different from the wallpaper in the kitchen because it came of so easily and at times we pulled it off in sheets. I had the entire bathroom wallpaper free in two days.

We knew we wanted gray paint for the walls but that is easier said than done. I brought home paint samples on two different occasions and Joseph didn't like any of the colors. I then told Joseph to just find a color that he would be happy with because he cared more than I did about the color. He came home with a gallon of paint and I knew instantly that he wouldn't really like the color once it was on the wall...I'm sad to say, I was right. I painted the toilet room portion of our bathroom in the paint and we both didn't like it. It was too dark and looked too blue. We then went back to Lowe's togethr to pick a different color of gray. I painted over the weekend and Joseph reinstalled the toilet, towel bars and light fixtures today. The color still isn't perfect but it was the best we could do because I'm tired of painting!



By far my favorite part of this project was taking off the wallpaper. I could get so much accomplished in such a short amount of time.

We still need to tackle Kimball and Rebecah's bathroom, but I'm going to take a break from projects. I get tired of the mess and clutter easily and we spent the last two months of 2010 putting down new flooring in the kitchen.

Rebecah's Birthday

Last Friday, the 7th, Rebecah turned 1 year old. The last year has gone so quickly for us. Rebecah had a good birthday. She loved having us sing to her throughout the day. By dinner and party time she was a little grumpy so I was glad we hadn't invited friends over for a party.

Cita wasn't too interested in opening her presents so Kimball happily opened all of her presents. We kept telling Kimball over and over that the presents were for Cita even though he was the one opening them. Once the presents were open, Rebecah showed a lot more interest in the toys. The cars from the Grandparents on both sides were the big hit for both kids. Kimball frequently tells me they are his toys so until Rebecah starts to fight back, I have a feeling that all toys in our house will be more Kimball's than Rebecah's.

Present pictures:










Rebecah also got a walk 'n ride toy to encourage her in her walking. She has mastered crawling really well the past month and is quite fast on her little knees these days. At times she does the bear walk on her feet and hands and it's quite funny.

Rebecah LOVED her first experience with chocolate and dessert in general. I had given her a taste of a fruit pie at Christmas but other than that taste she had never had dessert before. She loved her cake and kept opening her mouth and she would start to cry if the bites didn't come fast enough. If she sees me pull the cake out of the fridge she starts to get very excited with a big smile and she'll cry if she isn't rewarded with some bites in a timely manner. I have a feeling we won't beable to substitute animal crackers for her dessert like we were able to do with Kimball.



Here she is eating her cake. I think she looks a lot like Kimball in these pictures when he was her age.


At this point she knew her cake was almost gone and she started to fuss because she wanted more.


Kimball and Rebecah have started playing really well together. When Kimball naps Rebecah will frequently try to sneak into his room if she is awake because she wants to be with him.

Rebecah went to the doctor today and I was surprised to see that she is still 17 lbs. She has only gained 6 oz in the last 3 months. I guess she is just taking after some of her cousins that are on the small side. She eats well if it is something she is interested in, like oranges or broccoli, so we have to keep her favorite foods out of sight until she is finished eating her other food. As newborn Cita wasn't very snuggly at all and I was a little saddened that she didn't like to snuggle. That has completely changed. She loves to be held and I love it when she lays her head on me and gives me a squeeze. She has even started falling asleep at church if I hold her which is a miracle because she usually only sleeps if she is in the carseat or in her bed.

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. Joseph was off the 23rd and the 24th so we were able to fit in quite a few Christmas activities. On the 23rd we went to a live Nativity put on by one of the local Baptist churches. Kimball loved seeing the animals, shepherds, angels, Wise Men, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. The baby was a real baby and was so happy just laying in the hay. Rebecah got cold and grumpy so we didn't stay very long.

Christmas Eve we had a traditional Johnson family dinner and then we had a short Christmas program. It was fun to sing Christmas songs as we read the Christmas story from the Bible. We also watched part of White Christmas and just before bed we left out cookies for Santa and read The Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Kimball loves the Grinch, we have read it so many times the past few weeks and it is cute to hear him quoting it.

Santa came as soon as Kimball was asleep so we could get a full night of sleep. We got up about 6:45 and the kids woke up shortly there after. We had a fun morning opening presents. We took a break during the present opening for breakfast...fruitcake and hot chocolate. Rebecah loved the fruitcake along with the rest of us. Now, no negative thoughts about fruitcake...it's quite tasty!

Some of the favorite gifts were a remote control car and a doll from a Grandma friend in Russellville in addition to laptop computer and doll house that Santa brought. Kimball likes Cita's toys in addition to his own so he is having a hard time realizing that not all fun toys belong to him. Cita is a good sport about Kimball taking her things. She is still at the age where she puts up with Kimball taking her toys...not for much longer I would imagine.

We had a nice relaxing day and enjoyed a nice quiet Christmas dinner. We were able to spread some Christmas cheer by singing to a man from church who was in the hospital.

Kimball's laptop is a Toy Story one and he told me that he is now more excited about the Toy Story movie than he is about the Cars movie so he is broadening his horizons.

With their presents from Santa



Sampling the paper before opening her present.


Cita with her new Care Bear


Kimball with his tool set.


Rebecah with her doll. She got SO excited when she saw it was a doll.


Pretty Blue Eyes


Working on their laptops together:



Kimball giving Rebecah a ride in his dump truck.