Fall Festivties

I can't believe that it is almost Thanksgiving!! I have to admit that I am excited. I LOVE to celebrate the holidays with loved ones, and I LOVE to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, I am insane. It has been a family tradition since I was little, and I look forward to it every year. I am sure that I will once again document the event and share some highlights with you. I think that Brian and I want to get Johanna one of the most popular toys of the year, so I might be one of those moms clawing her way towards a coveted gift. We'll see!

Since I am home taking care of Johanna, I actually have some time to post :) Thank heaven for naps!

Overall we are doing well. Brian's hours got changed around at work which is kind of hard, but at least he still has a full-time job- no complaining here. My job is going well....enough about that.

Johanna is as fun as ever. I have decided that this is the most fun age thus far. She is so communicative. She is speaking in pretty consistent 3 word sentences which is absolutely adorable. She LOVES to play, and generally just enjoys life. What is there to feel down about when you are not even 2 yet?! Here are some recent pictures-

This is Johanna playing in the leaves while daddy is raking.She really did have a blast, even though she doesn't look exactly thrilled in the pictures. She would ride on the tarp with all the leaves every time Brian had to take a trip to the front. It was so cute!


The rest are just general pictures of her around the house. The one of her in the bathroom shows her carrying around her basket of buckeyes that she just loves to play with. Yes, I know they are poisonous. No, I do not let her eat them....duh. She is not in the least but interested in putting them in her mouth.
I think she is eating something in this picture, but I just love how it shows some of her curls!
Last but not least, here is some bedhead for you. AT least she finally has enough hair to have bedhead! Yes, those are teeth marks on the side of her crib. Those are all thanks to her teething days. How good that must have felt!

Awkward moments..

I have something to admit dear old blog.......I have been avoiding you. Life has been a bit crazy and the thought of writing it down was seriously overwhelming. So, we shall keep it lite!

Brian, Johanna, and I are all doing great. Things have been super busy, but good. Jo got over the chicken pox just fine. School is going ok- never a dull moment.

Trick-or-treat was great! We went twice- once at a church and once at my great grandma's nursing home. Johanna LOVED it! We are still working through her candy. She asks for candy about a million times a day, but she only gets one to two pieces a day (and not every day). She would walk right up to each person and say "ta-tweat" which was her version of "trick or treat!". She went as this...... THE CUTEST PENGUIN EVER!!!

We also had a blast at the zoo last month. We went with my good friend Beth and her son.

It is hard to believe that Johanna is going to be two before I know it. Some of her favorite things lately include- elmo, jay jay the jet plane, counting, singing, and playing ring around the rosie with her stuffed animals. She is talking in more and more sentences. The other day she put a dime on a pillow and told brian that "money's tired too" She often tries to tell people to "go in there" or that it's "mommy's turn" for something. She loves to talk. Hmmmm..... I wonder where she gets it from!

I hope that everyone is well. I am glad that I got a second to update.

Note to blog- I promise that I will no longer cheat on you by only updating my school webpages or checking facebook.

I am still alive....I think!

It is hard to believe how long it has been since I posted! Yikes! Teaching keeps me more than busy. If I calculate all the time I spend actually teaching, grading papers, and writing and designing lessons, then I am working 60+ hours a week. I keep reminding myself that I get a few days off for holidays, spring break, and then SUMMER! Then, I was reminded of the fact that I have to start taking classes for my Masters Degree over the summer. Plus, teachers don't get done until after the kids, and I will have to start getting my room ready for the year at the beginning of August. I also have some professional development seminars that I need to go to over the summer. So, I guess I might get about a week off! Urgh!

Enough complaining for now!

Johanna is doing well. She is talking sooooooo much. We still don't have our computer back from Worst Buy, uh, I mean Best Buy. I have some really cute pictures and videos to post. She LOVES playing with some old stuffed animals from when I was little. She puts diapers on them and treats them like babies. She puts them in the high chair to feed them, and she even shares her snacks and drinks with them. She loves to listen to "Songs, songs" which is what she calls music. She has always been a dancer, but now she dances with her stuffed animals. It is sooooooo cute!

About a week ago, she found my beloved stuffed peguin, Pete, which I got when I was four. He was definitely my security blanket while growing up. Ok, ok, I'll admit that he slept on my bed until I got married. Pretty embarrassing, but I guess we all have small ways of haning onto the good parts of our childhood. I have been saving him to give to her when she gets older. But, she found him in our bedroom. It was while I was at work, but Brian was still home with her. I got a text from Brian showing Pete with a diaper on! She has been attached to "penin" ever since. It is so special to see her love something that was so special to me.

Fun recent events-

• I took Johanna to the zoo with my friend Beth and her son Hunter. We had a blast! Johanna loved all the animals, especially the "penins."
• Johanna pooped on the potty for the first time on Sunday Oct. 5 (this is mostly for my own personal recording of important dates, so I apologize if this grosses you out!). We celebrated and gave her candy. We aren't really potty training, but we are fostering her own interest. Since Sunday, she has not even been to interested in even sitting on the potty. However, I think this might be due to the next tidbit....
• Johanna has the chicken pox! Yup, I missed most of the day on Friday and have been a hermit ever since. We have gotten out for a few walks and to go through the drive through at the bank. She seems to be doing ok so far. Please pray that she doesn't get worse.

I think that is all the main stuff so now. I wish that I could load some pics, but you will have to wait until we get our computer back (that story will be a whole other post).

I hope that everyone is doing well, and that my readers stick with me even though I am gone more than I used to be.

Things to look forward to seeing on this blog...

• Johanna's haloween costume
• Trip to Ramsier Farms (did I spell that right)- if you are from Woo, you probably know what this is. Ya know, that HUGE place with the corn maze and lots of fun stuff!
• All the pictures that you have been missing since we don't have a computer!!!
• Christmas Ideas Blog
• Freezer Meal book idea- need some comments when I do this one!