MightyJohnsons

Today was Drew’s 2nd birthday. The great thing about a 2 year old is they don’t care much about the whole celebration thing. It was low-key but fun. We had his favorite dinner – pizza! He got a few fun toys, although not much is needed two weeks after Christmas. He loved his slide which he calls “weeee!” (So cute!). He also loves his cute new puppy. He wasn’t too sure about the candles on the cake and mostly just stared at them oddly until KK assisted him in blowing them out.

Drew has been so tiny all of his life. He never really got any hair so he looked like a infant for the first year and a half. He is now finally starting to look his age. He is growing some hair and is starting to talk really well. It is amazing how quickly time flies. We love him so much. Happy birthday Drew!

It was another wonderful Christmas, with lots of family and great food. The festivities began on Christmas Eve with our traditional meal at Seth’s parents home. After dinner we watched the kids perform the nativity. It was a bit comical with Drew, not even 2, being Joseph. Not to mention Claire took a hard fall off the donkey on her way to the manger resulting in lots of tears. Although funny, it was still a sweet account of the Savior’s birth.

Later that night we headed home to prepare for the arrival of Santa. Uncle Matt, Seth’s brother, came and spent the night with us again this year. The kids love him and couldn’t have been happier to have him join us. All the kids received PJ’s with feet. Last year the older kids expressed an interest in warm cuddly jammies that would keep their feet warm. I didn’t think they made them for bigger kids but they do and everyone now has a pair. Unfortunately we left our camera at mom and dad’s house and didn’t get any pics until they brought the camera to us the next morning.

Santa was good to us. It was probably because of all the gifts the kids made and wrapped for him this year. Usually it is just cookies and milk and maybe a carrot for the reindeer but not this year. They went all out with the cutest homemade pictures and treats that they left for him. He, in turn, left lots of fun toys and every kid said this was the greatest Christmas ever. I love that they say this each and every year. 🙂

The “big” gift was the Wii. We have drug our feet on getting one for a while but finally buckled. The kids were thrilled. They have had so much fun playing all the games. And when we finally get all the kids tucked in bed, Seth and I sneak up and play it together. Who would have known how sore my wrist and arm could get!

We all had a wonderful time and are so grateful for this holiday season.

Uncle Matt and Claire with her new wig

Jacob showing his excitement after opening Guitar Hero.

Meg opening her diary that she wanted so badly.

Katelyn with one of her Christmas gifts.

Grandma Jan and Ellie with Jacob and Drew showing off their new BYU attire.

Here are some cute personalized water bottles that Uncle Derek and Aunt Alison got for the kids. They love them!

Happy 11th anniversary hon! It it has been the best 11 years of my life. I wouldn’t trade a day of it. I love you.

The drawback of having four sisters is you begin to think you are one of them. He saw the girls “pretending” the other day with the balls on the Christmas tree. Then today he decided to try it for himself. I have a feeling this picture will come back to haunt him some day.

In case you can’t tell from the above picture here is another one from a different angle. Too funny!

First the MAKING

Then the BAKING

And best of all, the DECORATING

We love Christmas time!

It is hard to believe that Ellie has been a part of our family for full week already. Adjusting to a newborn, after having been through five other children, hasn’t been as hard as I anticipated. Plus, I am trying to enjoy every moment with her that I can before she loses that newborn sweetness. I have had a few long nights — no crying, just snuggling so I don’t mind too much. She is the cutest thing I have ever seen. She doesn’t strike a resemblance to any one of our kids in particular but does have the features of several of them combined. She loves being held, especially by me.

We also were sent home with lights for her to be under because her biliruben levels were slightly high. [*This is a bitter subject that boils down to a overly paranoid doctor. We have a past history of every child having a little higher than normal levels and they allows peak the day we leave the hospital and then come down, but the doctor insisted we put her in the lights 24/7, naked, with goggles for the first few days of her life. Needless to say we probably did it for a max of 10 hours total out of five days and “remarkably” her levels came down just fine and she is normal. I just couldn’t bare not holding her those first few days. I would have certainly been more cautious if we hadn’t been through this five other times without the need of these silly lights.]

Overall though, we couldn’t be happier. She is a sweet, healthy, baby girl. Meg and Katelyn fight over who gets to hold her and Drew and Claire are always smothering her. It isn’t safe to leave her alone in a room with either one of them just yet. Seth is surprisingly sentimental and is doing a great job helping me with her (and the other kids as well). We are so glad to have Ellie in our family and feel greatly blessed to have another beautiful baby.

Sweet Ellie Patricia

Ellie getting read to leave the hospital

G’ma and the kids made this mommy snowman holding her snow baby with a sign welcoming us home. It was the cutest thing ever!

Our baby girl getting her first taste of sun tanning.

Jacob and his new baby sister

Little “L”, as the kids call her, at one week

Dear Ellie,

Today was a pretty special day. Your mom and I are very excited to have you in our family.

Because you won’t remember much of what happened today, let me tell you a little bit about your first day with us. Manina was more than a little nervous when we showed up to the maternity ward early this morning. But, you turned out to be the easiest delivery of all of our children. Practically perfect.

Your brothers and sisters at home were very excited to finally meet you. Your Grandma Jan came over to babysit everyone, and started a contest to see which of your siblings could guess your closest arrival time, weight, and height.

When you arrived precisely at 2:30 in the afternoon, Mom and I looked at each other and chuckled because it was the exact arrival time Jacob had guessed for you. You were taken care of by Dr. Judd, who your mom thinks is the best doctor on the planet. I think he’s a pretty nice guy, and he’s done a good job with your other brothers and sisters, so we kept him on the job.

You were obviously curious to see your mom and me, because you were busy looking around for the first few hours with us. I’m sorry it wasn’t more peaceful for you; the doctors and nurses just had to make sure everything was just right. You got weighed (7 lbs. 12 oz), measured (20 in), and tested for a whole bunch of other things to make sure you were healthy. The verdict? Practically perfect.

I rolled you into the hospital’s nursery for your first bath. You seemed to really enjoy getting your hair washed and scrubbed, but I could tell you weren’t very happy about the shot they gave you in the leg. Sorry about that, but it’s for your own good.

After you got bundled up we took you back to Mom so she could see you again. You looked so cute with the bow on your head, so we had to take some pictures. You smelled so good after your bath that Mom and I took turns holding you for a while.

We called some of your very good friends, your grandparents, aunts and uncles. All of them were very happy that you’ve finally joined our family and are anxious to meet you in person. It was fun to hear from all of them.

But the most excited to see you were your brothers and sisters. Unfortunately, the hospital wouldn’t let them come in. You see, everyone is a bit nervous about this swine flu thing that has been going around, so no kids under 14 could even come into the hospital to visit. But, a deadly flu virus wasn’t going to hold back your siblings. No way. When they drove into the hospital, your brother Jacob called me from Grandma Jan’s cell phone and made me signal them from the window. Grandma stopped the car (in a red-curbed, no-parking zone) and the kids came running across the hospital lawn to the window where they could see you. They stood on their tip-toes and pressed their noses against the window so they could see just how cute you are. They kept asking Grandma Jan to lift them up so they could see you better. I’m sure they can’t wait to hold you. I hope you’re ready.

Grandma Jan came in to hold you for a while. She kept saying how beautiful you are. You must have been tired from all the earlier excitement, because then you got very tired, and slept for a very long time.

It was pretty much just you and your mom for the rest of the night. That’s the way it should be, I think. Your mom will probably remember many more details from the first day, but one thing was clear: we are all very happy you have joined our family. We all love you very much already, and that will never stop from this day forward. It was a great first day with you. Practically perfect.

Love,

Your dad