Flood 2010

March in like a lion, out like a lion? Not the way it's supposed to be. Today it was official. This was the rainiest March in recorded history and the second rainiest month ever. When the doctor said labor could be anytime, I didn't think she meant manual labor. Mopping, vacuuming and emptying the 15 gallon shop vac was not what I had in mind.Here are some pictures from our latest storm.

The wagon will soon be a canoe

Over the road we go.

Soccer field or cranberry bog?

View from the garage roof

Why do you think the road is closed?

Birthday Redo

Last week the entire Johnson family was too sick to party. Not this week! The weather was beautiful, and we were all feeling great. We had Patrick's second birthday party at my parents house on Sunday. Patrick had a wonderful time, and it was great celebrating with family and friends.

Munching

Look Ma it fits!

Who spiked the punch?

Puppy Love

PUSH!

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday?

My little boy is two. I can't believe it. The last two years have gone by so fast. He is very quickly changing from my tiny baby into my little man.
We were supposed to spend this past weekend celebrating Patrick's birthday, but unfortunately most of our plans had to be rescheduled because of a nasty norovirus. We were all sick at different points over the weekend. So plans had to be changed. His birthday party will now be this weekend.
Still, we managed to salvage a pretty okay Sunday. We went out for breakfast. Then I went to M and M's bridal shower while, Dada and Patrick went to Kidz Wurld. Once I came home we headed out to buy Patrick a new book. We finished up the evening with supper at McDonalds and ice cream at home. Happy Birthday to my little guy.

I can't believe you are going to let me eat this cake batter

Birthday treats

Brand new 3/14/08 Approximately 3:10

Dada and Patrick 3:10 3/14/2010

Mama and Patrick 3:10 3/14/20010

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch......

This past weekend Kenny was in Florida visiting our friend Erik. He moved about a year ago and we miss him. I would have liked to go too, but, no way could I get the time off from work. Plus, hello.... 34 weeks pregnant, flying is a no no. And can you even imagine Patrick on an airplane? (shudder)

Anyway, Patrick, Buster, and I descended on my parents for the weekend. We had a great time, and got totally spoiled. The weather turned absolutely beautiful, and we spent hours and hours outside. Hehe it was even warmer here on Saturday than it was in Florida.


Happy boy in the hammock

I like to waaater.

This is NOT a guilty Corgi look. I did NOT roll in anything funky


Papa caught me


Crash!

Camping Show

It's been a long, cold winter, and everyone is looking forward to Spring. This past weekend we went with Ken's parents to the RI camping show. I don't have too many pictures because, I didn't get to see too much of show. Patrick was having a really tough day. He and I had been awake partying it up since 3am. So Charlene and I spent most of the show wrangling my third shift toddler. (Of course we now know he was up due to yet another ear infection. He has an ENT appointment next week.)

I know I kept you up last night Mama, but PLEASE leave me alone and let me sleep!

I'm not going to look at the camera today, but aren't Cedric and I great drivers?

Back from Vacation

This February vacation Kenny, Patrick and I headed to North Conway NH. Kenny does quite a bit around here, and since he turned 30 this past year, I thought he deserved a special treat. So, he went skiing and snowboarding for two days, while, Patrick and I explored the hotel, and North Conway. We all had a great time! Patrick loved the pool area, especially a palm tree which sprinkled water. We also stopped by a local children's museum to play. We even ran into Kenny while he was snowboarding at Attitash. It great to get away for a few days as a family.

Get ready, set, GO SWIMMING!

Current Skier and Future Skier

Patrick's Water Tree

Ahh! This is the life

Sappy, Sentimental, but True

So Patrick and I have been working very hard to get his bedtime routine down. Just when I thought I had worked out all the kinks, he caught his first cold in a year and our routine that had been working so well went right out the window.
He's starting to feel better now, and I've been trying to get him back on track.

Well, last night was awful. He was up until 10 at night, and then back up at 5 this am. I really missed my little guy today while I was at work, and wanted to have a nice, calm, easy bedtime. We played all afternoon, had a yummy dinner, and a nice warm bath. Then, we had a snack and read tons of books in his room. I plunked him into bed, turned out the light, and sat down next to him determined he would go to sleep. Well, that lasted about one minute before he was gesturing at the living room door.

I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to rock him to sleep in the chair. I confess to feeling momentary annoyance. After all, I had things to do and limited energy with which to get them done. Then I looked at his little hopeful face, sighed, and said "okay Buddy, lets go rock in the chair."

I turned off the living room lights, we settled into the chair, and started to rock. He was asleep within 5 minutes. I could now easily move him into his room, and get my stuff done, but I suddenly didn't want to. I breathed in the smell of his freshly shampooed hair, and cheese (from the rice cakes he'd had for a snack), and I thought about just how special this moment was. How much longer is he going to even want me to cuddle and rock him to sleep? All too soon, he'll be off with friends, doing the big kid thing, and his time as a baby will be just a memory for me. It then didn't matter that there were blocks all over the floor, and that I really needed to clean the kitchen. For just that short time, I was perfectly content to sit and rock my baby. Nothing else was even remotely important.

Anyway, we rocked for a few more minutes, and now he's settled peacefully in his bed. Now that I've stopped blubbering like a baby, I had to get this down. Of course, he'll look back on this post someday, and think I'm a total sap, but maybe he'll think of it down the road, when he's rocking his own baby to sleep.