6 months!

Ms. Emma is now 6 months! Wow, time is flying. She had her 6 month check up last week with the following stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 14 oz

Height: 27.5 inches

In both the weight and height categories, she is off the charts. Our doctor was joking that maybe she needed 'Baby Spanx' similar to those highlighted in an SNL skit he apparently watched the weekend before and thought was funny. Jokes aside, she is healthy and proportional. :-) Emma is able to sit by herself for brief periods until she falls over. She is a very happy baby with a very healthy appetite. Her favorite is still the oatmeal cereal she now gets three times a day. We call it prison slop. We keep trying to introduce root veggies and peas but it's slow. She isn't a fan...still. We are excited for the next 6 months which will dramatically change the game here in the Johnson household. We can't wait!

Happy Halloween 2010

We had a fun Halloween celebration starting with a trip on the Durango Silverton Train to the Peanuts Pumpkin Patch where we were able to do many fun kid activities and take pictures/hug the peanuts gang (Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Lucy). For Halloween weekend we headed down to Phoenix to join my oldest brother and his family plus my mom for another boo-filled time. All three of us girls were nursing colds before and during our trip but we tried to not let it get the best of us. It was great to see family and enjoy the warm Arizona sun. The Great Pumpkin returned the day after Halloween to provide the kids with a prize in exchange for some of their candy, similar to last year. This year he delivered Pillow Pets. Sarah received the Lady Bug Pillow Pet and is in love! Emma's treat was being pushed around the neighborhood in the stroller that held our Heineken beers. ha! Sarah was a Southern Belle and loving every minute of it. We kept trying to get her to say "I do declare" and "Bless your heart" as part of the trick or treat routine but it didn't stick. She was focused on the prize. We are now back still healing from our colds and getting ready for the holiday season.

Sarah at the end of the Pumpkin Patch Maze where she could pick her pumpkin to take home. This was her Durango version of the Southern Belle costume with the fleece jacket underneath.

Sleeping Emma in the Pumpkin Maze.

My beautiful girls in beautiful Durango, Colorado.

The Cristofano-Johnson crew. From left to right: Emma in the beer cart (aka stroller), Sir Jack the Knight of Chandler, Witchy Poo Hayden, Ms. Sarah the Southern Belle, and Mighty Kyle the Pirate of Halloween.

From left to right: Me channeling my past from the 80's with the Blondie concert tee/plastic bracelets/gloves and wacky hair, my Mom dressed as a 'Family Tree', and Rasta Man Dan.

Beautiful Hayden and Emma. Hayden was a huge help with Emma during the Halloween weekend.

Emma trying to be like her uncle Rasta Man Dan.

The day after Halloween and the kids decided to dress up again before school.

October so far...

Apologies for not being more diligent with the posts. We are enjoying the month of October and keeping busy. The weather is finally cooling down a bit and even the heater is coming on at night. But the Alaskans in us keep the windows at least in our bedroom open - nothing like that cool breeze while you are snuggled under the covers. The girls are doing well and changing everyday. We think the next set of teeth are making their way out since the drool and stuffy nose have amped back up with Ms. Emma. The humidifier in her room helps. She is rolling over a bunch and getting stuck on her stomach at night which sometimes is an issue and sometimes is not. I just returned from a 3-day weekend in Denver with my mom and without kids! Kirk took care of the girls while I whisked away to shop, eat, sleep and get massages at the Brown Palace with my mom. It was a nice break though I missed the girls and Kirk a bunch. It helped that I made frequent check-in calls. It's now back to the ol'grind. The biggest news here that I can now share is I'm going back to work, kind of. I'm a contractor (or consultant by title) now with ConocoPhillips doing portions of my job that I left behind before maternity leave. I'm going to work from home, support my old team and determine my hours. On occasion I'll go in for a meeting but plan to call in for most of the meetings. This will be good, a bit challenging and will keep me off the Internet during Emma's nap time. (like now - ha!) And if it doesn't work out, then no biggie.

We have another busy week with a trip on the Durango Silverton train to visit Snoopy and the gang at the Peanut's Pumpkin Patch on Saturday with our ol'AK/BP friends. We are headed to Phoenix next week to celebrate the Halloween weekend with my oldest brother and his family along with my mom. We can't wait!

Enjoy the pictures!

A'hoy! Sarah dressing up as usual on a weekend morning.

Sarah at the Pumpkin Patch at Sutherland Farms. (more pictures below)

Emma enjoying the sunshine at Sutherland Farms.

We hosted the local Moms Club one Friday morning and made caramel apples.

Sarah and Kirk LOVE to make little houses and forts for Sarah's little princess dolls with her Magz magnet toys.

Naked Emma going after her toes.

I got Sarah's old exersaucer out for Emma and she loves it!

September

It's been a busy September so far and I can't believe we are half way through the month. We enjoyed a nice Labor Day weekend 4x4 driving up to Kennebec Pass which is located between Durango and Mancos. Once we were at the top, we got out for a small walk up the hill to look over the San Juans. The view was amazing and the girls did great both on the ride up/down and during the walk. Both during Labor Day weekend and this past weekend, we enjoyed visiting with Brant and Clotho our great friends who were in Colorado visiting family and attending a friends' wedding. Kirk and Brant were able to hit the streams for fishing on two different occasions. Clotho, the girls and I did some shopping and we all enjoyed the arts festival in Durango. We topped it off with a pint at Steamworks Brewery before having to say our goodbyes last night.

This has been a busy time for Emma. She is now rolling from back to belly all the time. She loves to lay on her back and grab her toes. The biggest news is her two bottom teeth are coming in! It's two months earlier than Sarah. But she's handling it like a trooper for the most part. We also started oatmeal cereal that is heavily diluted in formula. She now eats a smidge during dinner time.

Sarah is doing well. One of her favorite activities lately is tracing letters and numbers. She does pretty well with telling you the letter, the sound the letter makes and providing an example of a word using the letter. As an example, you will hear almost always that "S is for Sarah!" She's back in ballet and tap class on Tuesday nights and loves her new teacher. She can't wait for Halloween and loves when a new catalog advertising Halloween costumes comes in the mail. The Chasing Fireflies catalog can keep her occupied for a long time. We've made plans to celebrate Halloween again this year in Phoenix with my oldest brother and his gang. We can't wait!

Kirk is set to venture off on a 5 day guy fishing trip on the Arkansas River later this week. While he is gone, I'm hosting a trunk show for an ol'AK girlfriend who is now in Farmington (her hubby is a manager in the BP Farmington office). She is a new stylist for Stella and Dot jewelry. Wish us luck!

Here are a few pictures from our recent adventures.

Kennebec Pass

Girls playing with the beads together.

Posing with the Scarecrow at the front entrance. Sarah had a death grip on Emma.

Yummy oatmeal.This is what happens when you leave the room and dad is watching the baby.

Emma is 4 months

Our sweet Emma is 4 months, 1 week and is such a doll. She had her 4th month check up last week and her stats were as follows:

Height: 27 inches - 97th percentile

(though we measure her at home more around a smidge over 25 inches)

Weight: 16 lbs 7 oz - 85th percentile

Kirk jokes that she is our volleyball player given her height. She is growing like a weed and is now in 6 month clothing. She also rolled over yesterday from back to belly. She's been working on it for a few weeks but finally made it over on her own yesterday. She is a talker and has found her voice these past two weeks. The volume and pitch of her coos get increasingly louder as she becomes more tired. We joke that our ears are left ringing at times. The best part is Emma loves to smile and is such a happy baby. We feel so blessed.

August...so far

I can't believe it's August already. All is well here at casa de Johnson. Emma is still doing well with sleeping through the night and without a paci. I'm thankful everyday that we have two thumbs because those little digits have been our saving grace. Naps are still OK but not great. She'll get a good 40 minutes into the nap and then seems to wake up for whatever reason after that first sleep cycle. We are working on it. But I can't complain...I'm loving the longer nights. I feel somewhat like a functioning human again. I'm officially done with breastfeeding. It's weird and sad but good for Emma. I couldn't keep her satisfied without having to feed her every 2-3 hours and she seems thriving well on the formula. We have her 4 month check up in two weeks so we will see what the doc says. I can't believe she is already 16 weeks old! Sarah is doing great and enjoying summer. The days are still toasty but we are making more of an effort to get out in the evenings on the back patio which is shaded.

Kirk and I celebrated our 12 year wedding anniversary last weekend. It's been an awesome 12 years filled with many adventures, two beautiful princesses and having to say goodbye to our prince. We are excited to enjoy 12 more wonderful years together. He surprised me with a bouquet of two dozen black velvet roses that were delivered to the house. The bouquet was HUGE! He included a nice card with the flowers along with a business card of a local and very popular jeweler. The next day he met me at the jeweler where I was able to pick out a wedding ring upgrade. Wowy wow! What an awesome surprise!!! The new ring is gorgeous with both yellow gold and platinum and goes will with our wedding bands. Plus the new ring has over 1 carat of diamonds. Bling-o-rama! I had my engagement ring cut off my finger when I was pregnant with Emma because I waited too long to remove everything. So the jeweler removed the stone and placed it in a white gold solitaire. I'm blinged out for sure. I pick up my ring today since it's being sized so I'll post a picture later. And my gift to my hubby....I surprised him with a membership to the "fly of the month club" through a fly fishing angler outfit out of Evergreen, CO. I know, a bunch of flies in the mail every month don't compare to the bling but he was happy nonetheless.

Below are a few recent shots. Also, check out the shots in the post below of Sarah in motion. Enjoy!

Beautiful black velvet roses from my sweet hubby!

Our little chunky monkey.

Strike a pose. One of Sarah's pre-dinner outfits complete with fairy wings on the back. Future designer candidate for Project Runway? Last day of summer dance class. She is scheduled to start again later this month for the fall.

Just Dance

Below are a sequence of shots taken of Sarah doing what she likes to do best...just dance! Got to love the outfit she pulled together for this number.