Johnson party of seven

Atlanta Weather Update for Jan. 11, 2011

2011-01-17T13:31:00.000-06:00

The REAL housewives of Knox County...

2011-01-12T11:15:00.010-06:00

First of all, I am going to start this one off by saying that I am an awful, horrible soul. Its out there on the table so there is no need talking about me behind my back. It is what it is.

This morning when I woke up, I stumbled into the kitchen (to pour myself a cup of ambition...no- wait... that's Dolly's gig) to get a cup of coffee and low and behold, there it was. A sink FULL of dishes surrounded by dirty dishes on the counter top that wouldn't fit into the sink. The kitchen table was a mess- cereal spilled all over it, chairs pushed out, apple peels and a peeler just sitting directly on the tabletop. Are you kidding me?!

Let me back up a bit and tell you that I FINALLY got to so out to dinner with my yayas to celebrate CHRISTMAS last night. I say finally because that just proves a point that Momma's extra curricular activities always come last. I had not been with the girls since well before Christmas and I was so looking forward to relaxing and catching up. I woke up with a spring in my step ready to clean up the house after coming off a long week full of snow days and little children who had been home from school making messes on said snow days. I was ready to reclaim my house. This brings in the "keeping it real" part of my blog.

I actually took pictures of my mess (or at least some of it) because now that I am blogging again, it seemed "blog worthy". So here you go- Here is the glamorous life I lead. Don't be a hater. You too can lead this life. I will divulge my secrets to you. All you have to do is ask.

Notice the organic types of food a Real Knox County Housewife serves her family. Hot dog buns and Diet Mt. Dew.
This is the chest in my foyer. Its the first thing you see when you come into my house. Yes- it is stacked with mail that I haven't gone through in weeks. If I owe you money, chances are that your bill is somewhere in there and I will get to it. That is if it doesn't snow again.
yep- that's a lot to go through and I keep putting it off...
This is a shot off my back deck. Two bowls that are STILL sitting there as I type. This picture was made like three days ago. Mary Lawson and her friend made snow lemonade (whatever that is). All I know is that they were outside and entertaining themselves so I would have let them taken the living room sofa outside if they had asked. Nonetheless- bowls still there.
Dirt on the floor where little miss prissy plays.This is only a sampling of her toy mess.
And the twins room. uggh! The twins. You have no idea how messy they are! AND there's two of them!

Stacks of clean laundry to put away that most likely will never get put away and will end up back down the laundry chute, some still folded.
my mud room. yes. that is a Santa Claus that hasn't been put up yet and now that I glance over my shoulder, he is still sitting there waiting to be put up.
ML's room

This just might be my FAVORITE! This is David's "hunting room". Also known as the hamster room. The storage room. The "gun" room. I am proud to say that it doesn't look like this anymore because I got tired of waiting on him to clean it up so I did. Lets just say that I have no idea where I put anything and I am not responsible for lost or thrown away items. You should have done it yourself.

And my computer table. Those wires are out of control and kids toys strewn about and there's my trusty Starbucks and my bottle of wine for night time facebooking. Don't you judge me.

mud trail.

and the grand finale- that is our sled that was left in our neighbor's driveway. Here's the kicker... we don't even know them. Never met them. They just moved in like two days ago. They hate us already, I'm sure of it.

Back to my story. So, I wake up ready to take my house back over. I clean and organize up to the very moment I have to leave. Scratch that, GET to leave.All that you see in those pictures was straightened and put back in order. My sweet husband (who is a saint) had to work all day so as he walked in the door, I tagged him in and I left feeling accomplished and like I could really relax and enjoy my time with my friends. I had a great time. Got home close to 11. I know- party animal! Just another example of how a Knox County housewife rolls. Walked in the door and said hello to my husband who was watching TV in the living room. Walked into my bedroom, put my PJ's on and got into bed to watch a movie. And that is the end of the story until this morning when I woke up to the kitchen mess.

I LOST it. I mean LOST IT! I ranted and raved and shamed children and woke my husband to yell at him. I cleaned it all up again and still couldn't let it go. I made smart comments under my breath when anyone came within earshot of me. and then that is when a thought popped into my head. Think of the devil sitting on my shoulder (cause I'm sure he was) whispering to me, "Be done with it". And honestly, I wanted to pack a bag and walk out of the house and move to a beach somewhere and work renting wave runners to tourists but of course I would never. I still felt guilty for even having the thought of it. I recollected my self and gained control over my temper and cooled it down. About that time, Reagan walks in looking like this.

she made it herself. See what it says. "How imaginative, Reagan! I LOVE it! Let me take your picture! What are you playing anyway? Hospital? Let me see what the other girls are doing." Then I walk into the "hospital room" where I found Mary Lawson and her bestie, Hadly Anna sitting in "hospital beds" getting ready to give birth.

To bouncing baby balloons! Hilarious. Now... How could I ever leave this behind?!

and that my friends, is the Real Life of a Real Housewife of Knox County. Don't be a hater.

And just like that. As I was typing that last line, I hear the announcement that the princess has arrived! Humming some royal tune, they bring her in!

Life could not be any better.

Eat sweet buggy!

2011-01-10T14:48:00.002-06:00

eat little one....She looks so grown up- sitting at the bar eating chocolate cheerios. She is so precious. She wakes in the morning and says ," I hungry, Mama". We go through the ritual every morning. I make her breakfast. She eats like two or three bites then says she wants to get down and "go play". I go through the ritual every morning praying that this will be the morning she REALLY eats. And she will... someday. I just know it. For now, I will take those three bites that she gives me. I will call it a victory. Poor little bug has come a long way and I am proud of her.

Losing a friend...

2011-01-09T13:34:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, Mary Lawson and I had the honor of being with Browning as he took his last breath. As heartbreaking as it was, it was also (strangely) very precious. Browning is now cancer free, pain free, allergy free and electric collar free. He is free to run the gold paved streets of heaven and I know he is having a ball.

The rest of us on the other hand.... not so happy. Browning was our first FAMILY pet. ML has had many different animals that were hers but Browning was ALL of ours. I never have been a huge animal person. I mean, I like most animals just fine but I have never been animal crazy like some friends are. They are just a lot of work and quite frankly, I have plenty of work to do around here already. We had talked about getting a dog and I knew that "for the kids", I would go along with the idea. I wanted a Golden Retriever because they are such a picture perfect dog. You know, the husband, the kids, the house, the picket fence, the Golden on the front porch. That's what I wanted. I knew he would be pretty in our family pictures and that was how I made my decision. It was easy to convince David that a Golden would be the best dog for us because he had a Golden as a boy who was his best friend. Annie Dog was always loyal and was a good dog so he was sold. Now, there is NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING cuter than a Golden Retriever puppy but my practical side knew that I could not have a puppy in the house. I checked into the rescue here and next thing I knew, they were coming out to do a home study to see if we were good enough for them. If we were capable of taking care of a dog. I guess when they saw that we take care of five kids, we could handle a dog so we were approved. We told the lady that we wanted a blond female. That was the picture I had in my head that would look good on the Christmas card. She said she would call us back and let us know when our dog was ready. She did call but she said that she had found a red male that she thought our family would love. There was an adoption fair being held at Petsmart and this red male would be there. I agreed to go but I wasn't feeling the love. We gathered the kids in the car that Saturday morning and went to meet the red male, Keegan. I walked in and saw the lady we had been talking with. She led us to the dog and I have to say, it was love at first sight. He was beautiful! He was HUGE and I knew he was OURS! We took him for a walk around the store or should I say he took us for a walk. Think Clifford the big red dog. Keegan (later named Charles Browning by us) never had good manners. He would plow over anything or anyone to get to where he wanted to go- just like a Johnson kid. We all agreed that we wanted this 85 pound beast. We gathered supplies and loaded him into the car. He fit right in. He was a maniac. He would get out the front door and he would run as fast as he could! You could usually find him down at Mrs. Mobley's under her carport eating her cat's expensive high dollar geriatric cat food. I know he always was very sorry even leaving her a bag of the same cat food on her porch step with a note saying that he had borrowed some of the cat food and wanted to replace it. We finally had to get an invisible fence to keep him in the yard and away from Mrs. Mobley's carport. With all that said, Browning was a good dog. The best. He made this cat loving girl become a dog lover. He never once had an accident in the house. Even in his last hour, that sweet baby tried to stand up to get to the door to throw up. He was loyal and fun and we will miss his sweet crazy ways. I'm not sure if we will ever get to a point where we will not be looking for him as we drive up to the house. Time will heal our hearts but we will never forget what a good boy he was.

He is now buried in the backyard of the house we are going to be buying soon. The owner is a good friend of ours and was gracious to let us lay him to rest there. There is an empty place in all of our hearts but we will never forget the lessons he taught us. He taught us about life and about dealing with death. Until we meet again, Charles Browning....

My new Years Resolutions

2011-01-03T08:25:00.002-06:00

I have a resolution for 2011. A few of them actually. I have NEVER made one but this year I have a few- or maybe its several.

The first one being to lose weight. blah blah blah... That one is a given. I am so sick of food right now that one seems like it will be easy.HILARIOUS!

My second resolution is to blog. iI used to be so good about it but life got in the way and I figured it was more important to actually take care of my family rather than just blogging about taking care of my family. The thing is though, the other day I visited the 'ol blog and realized its like this great scrapbook of my life and I LOVED it! Even if nobody reads it, it is still a record of memories and quite frankly, I had forgotten many of the things I had blogged about! And the fact that Santa brought me a new Mac for Christmas makes it all the more fun! So I guess this means that my children will all look like they are homeless again but at least I will have record of it!

Along with that is the resolution that I will keep Caringbridge updated as well. That one is tough as we are in this "holding pattern" waiting on Hutton's new heart. Not much to say about it really...THANKFULLY. She is doing quite well and thriving. I try my best to not take these good days for granted because when you are in the throws of it, you LONG for a nice status quo day. I realize that as soon as we get the call, life is going to SUCK for about six months (if we are lucky). My family will be torn apart and poor little Hutton will have to endure so much. My brain can't "go there" right now. God will get us through like always but it will still be painful.

My last and most important is to read the complete bible this year. I have never done that before. I realized when my kids would come home and tell me something that they learned in bible and I would say, "thats not in the bible!" and they would show me that it was, it was time for me to get with it. I cannot fail at this goal because I would be letting someone really important down so I will prayerfully attempt this commitment.

So... here's to 2011. Could be a life changing year. Praying for all my friends out there for a joyful year. Life is hard. I have just learned to accept that but in the pain, I find JOY. It must be a God given gift because I can't explain how you could find JOY when you are waiting for a heart for your sick baby.

xoxo

Jill

2010-02-15T12:55:00.002-06:00

At what point do we get used to it? Thought by now, I would be a pro. I am not. Same feelings of butterflies and uncertainty that I felt over two years ago are as fresh as the day is long. This one feels particularly raw.
Just got the final confirmation of Hutton's reconstructive surgery. David and I will be taking Hutton to Philadelphia on February 28th with surgery planned for March the 4th. Although we have been praying for this date, reality has now slapped us square between the eyes as we prepare for a very long March. I got an email from our favorite anesthesiologist, Dr. Montenegro who is now a beloved friend. When I read the words which I am certain meant no harm whatsoever, my heart dropped to the floor. She said, "so- you have to be up here for five weeks? You better bring the sunshine. March can be a long month.". Uggh. DREADING IT!
For anyone curious, here is the plan: We arrive in Philly on February 28th and will be staying at my sweet friend's penthouse (I just like saying that I have a friend with a penthouse). I thank God for my sweet friend Stephanie. (I need to blog about her. More on her later). On March the 1st, she has an appointment with the airway specialist, Dr. Jacobs. We have a few appointments scattered on that day with various departments. On March 4th, Hutton will have her trachea reconstructed. The surgery will consist of an incision on her lower side to remove a piece of rib cartilage. Then there will be an incision on her neck where they will be doing the actual reconstructing using the rib cartilage to open up the airway nice and wide. She will be intubated through a tube in her nose and on the ventilator for a minimum of 4 days. Its been a long time since we have seen our baby intubated and on a vent. At that point, They will extubate her and send us to the floor. That in itself is huge for us. We have only stayed in the CICU at CHOP. Everyone (and I mean everyone) knows our precious Buttons there. The CCU is the "step down" unit where the kids go who aren't as sick. What the?! Seriously? As exciting as that sounds, leaving all the Doctors and the nurses who know us so well is so unsettling to me. I will still have my sweet Steph and Dr. Montenegro checking in on us I am sure but I think it will feel so lonely over there. Hutton gets the royal treatment in the CICU. Everyone over there is her biggest cheerleader. The good news is that I think I heard somebody say that we will score a private room. Shoot me now if we don't.
David will be staying in Philly until after her surgery but then will be returning home to tend to business and four precious children who will be waiting for their Daddy. Please say a prayer for everyone involved in the care of our children while we are gone. I am sure that they will be having flashbacks to August of 2007 when we left for what was supposed to be a month and five months later returned home to Knoxville THANKFULLY with a baby sister. The twins have a hard time putting their emotions into words and can seem angry at times. Mary Lawson is a walking basket case and poor old Cooper J. tries his best to be the man of the house and keep it all together.
I am going to try my best to blog here and update caringbridge as often as possible as well as facebook. I am so very thankful for my friends and family who help me keep it together during these times. What would I do without you?!

Thankful~

2009-11-21T21:29:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to take a moment to give THANKS to The Lord for all our blessings. He is so good and we are so grateful for each and every life experience He has given us. My prayer for each one of you is that you will be thankful for the big and small things and that we would all realize that even in the hard times, we should give thanks. I hope that each one of you has a special Thanksgiving surrounded by people you love. I will be and I am so excited!

xoxo

Philly is calling...

2009-11-12T16:26:00.002-06:00

Pure, sweet, innocent...

Does this look like a sick baby to you? Its easy to forget. I got the sobering call from CHOP that reminded me yesterday that she does, in fact, have a lot of issues still. Issues that we will be dealing with head on come January 7th. Issues that I PRAY can be dealt with in January. Until then, we will continue to remember where God has brought us from and praise him for blessing us with this perfect little gift. Hutton continues to get stronger everyday with her walking. She is so afraid of falling that she just won't let go. A hard lesson to learn for us all.

And just in case you had any doubts about how strong she is, don't know if I mentioned it to you but Miss Buttons had H1N1 and recovered beautifully. God is so good. Cooper, on the other hand landed a stay at East Tennessee Children's Hospital and was very ill. We are all on the mend and ready for the holidays.Thanksgiving is here this year and David and I are so excited to host it this year. Thank you to all our friends for praying for our sweet baby. Please be praying that she will be ready to have reconstructive surgery on her trachea and we can then get her much needed Fontan. xoxo

Monkey Baby

2009-11-05T11:27:00.004-06:00

Hutton's third Halloween was- well.... WET! She had so much fun though. She was the cutest Monkey Baby and we had a blast riding in Daddy's truck pulling all the trick or treaters around on the hayride. So FUN! Just have a few pictures to share.
Mary Lawson as Hannah Montana and Hadly as Disco Dolly... This was pretty funny. Cooper J ( who was recovering from a nice long hospital stay) dressed as a big fat lady. Look at Hutton next to him laughing! She thinks Cooper is so cute!

Reagan was dressed as some sort of Winter girl. It was a really cute costume and soooooo her!
Mimi wanted to be a "china girl". She is a little obsessed with China and I am pretty sure that she secretly wishes that she were adopted from China like some of her friends.

And one final picture of Hutton.

We had fun but I could have done without the rain. The kids didn't seem to mind. Happy fall ya'll!

coming clean...

2009-10-14T11:28:00.002-05:00

I have a confession to make...
Look for it... take a closer look~

Do you see it? FACEBOOK. There! I said it! My name is Jill and I am addicted to facebook. Sorry for the lack of updates. If you are my facebook friend than you are VERY updated on whats going on around The Johnson household. I am going to TRY to do better. Starting now-

We are actually on the tail-end of swine flu. Everyone has had it except for me and Cooper J. Yes- everyone. Miss Hutton has it now. She is doing really good. Praising God for it all! I had been consumed with fear of her getting it. I surrendered it to God. I knew it was out of my hands. God has been there every moment of her life and I knew he wouldn't leave us now. He is soooooo GOOD!

Hutton gets her braces for her legs tomorrow! I can't wait! Looking forward to chasing her around this house!Oh - the things I took for granted with my other four kids. I will post pics!

David's business is picking up. He is finishing up the S&W Grand downtown and the big opening is this weekend. Its a historical restaurant here in Knoxville and is quite the buzz around town. I will post pictures of the party as well.

Mimi and Reagan have lost their top two teeth. Double CUTE!!! I will post pictures.

Cooper broke his arm and had to have surgery. He is now cast free and already back at football. His next two games are against Austin East and Fulton. Double YIKES!

ML just started Sharks. I will explain later. Lets just say she is THRILLED to wear the uniform even if she isn't competing.

I am... NOTHING. Same ol' same ol'. Loving my days with Hutton. We get the big kids off to school and its playtime! She is my love.

Okay- stay tuned for all those pictures I promised you~ ;)

I leave you with the most beautiful Fall mum I have ever seen.

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

2009-07-28T09:19:00.009-05:00

Saying goodbye to The Big City. Hutton and I will leave Philly tomorrow without a plan. sigh. It feels different leaving this time. We usually leave on "good terms"- temporarily fixed and ready to get back to Knoxville to tackle everyday life in the Johnson Party of Seven household. We are in a holding pattern. The thoughts of the months ahead are sickening. I am exhausted already. It is such an honor to be her mama. I will do anything and everything that needs to be done to save her but the truth is, its not up to me. Its not up to Dr. Gaynor or Dr, Rychik, or Dr. Bremer, or even Dr. Jacobs. Hutton's future rests in the palm of The Great Healer. We will continue to praise Him for where he has brought her from and pray for another miracle for Sweet Buttons.

Looking foward to seeing what God has in store for our little family.

2009-06-04T07:29:00.012-05:00

Okay- I have been trying to put all our beach pictures in order and downloaded here on blogger and it is taking me FOREVER. Wish I was a little bit more computer literate but sadly I am not and Cooper and ML are at Nana and Papas for the week so nobody can help me out. I have a feeling that most of you don't care what order they are in or the fact that I have no poetic words to go along with each photo. I am pretty sure you just want to see a cute baby in cute bathingsuits- sooooo... here goes!
Our house was incredible! This is the first thing you saw as you walked in the front door.This is a shot of all our flip flops.

Maggie was running along the beach- doing her very best Bo Derek. We did a little bit of this-Oh! This was cute! Merri and Libby-Skipping along the beach into the surf. It was HILARIOUS.Just wanted to show you how Hutton spent her time by the pool. We put a baby pool by the big pool and then put her in her Bumbo chair to make sure she didn't tip over. She loved it. She loved watching the big kids jump in and splash her a little. So sweet.Had to put this one in because her little tounge is so cute!
The guys went golfing in Wild Dunes. This is Gary, Jim, and David.

David and Cooper J.

Then they did a little deep sea fishing. Cooper did a lot of this-

But they did manage to reel in this-

Cooper was excited when Tristan made it into town.

Cooper and his Daddy.

Oh- this was FUN! The girls went to Mt. Pleasant to our friend's resturant. Stephen graduated from highschool with all of us girls. The guys stayed home with the kids.

We came home to a little of this-

Gary B. on his gutair

Look at these cuties. This is Merri's son, Garrett and his friend Adrian.

These next ones were made on our staircase at our house. First born to least...

Then we have The Murray kids- Dylanand Maggie.

Mimi Kate and Hutton Button-
Naptime! Mary Lawson and Hutton.

Pretty Shannon- we nicknamed her Eva.

Jack Holt

Shannon making the little ones help her out with a little decorating project.

Taking a nap on the beach. Is there anything more inviting?

Cooper doing a little skim boarding.

Rea, Dylan, and Mimi Kate

Sleeping in her Daddy's arms.

The girls.

The guys. Ummmm! This was the night we did a low country boil.

Merri and JIm pouring it out on the table.

Buttons.

Breakfast.

Hutton with her backpack on. It holds her food pump.

Drinking a juice box.

Cooper J jumping for JOY!

Hutton's first time having her toes in the sand.

Jim and David with their baby girls.

Mag- pie and Hutton

Hutton playing with Daddy.

Mommy sneaking in some sandy sugar.

Hutt and Maggie building sandcastles.

Cooper J.- I LOVE this boy!

I have more to share but its going to have to wait! We had such a wonderful time and felt blessed to be able to go to the beach this year and even more blessed that we got to go to the beach as a family of seven. Hutton did sooooooo great! Praising God for all his blessings!

Isle of Palms

2009-05-27T17:44:00.002-05:00

We are here- vacation! Every moment is being soaked up. Sweet memories. The kids are having so much fun. Hutton is adapting to a new routine of no routine. We have been setting up a little plastic pool for her with a Bumbo chair inside to prevent her from falling over. She LOVES it. I can't wait to get her trach out so she can get in the big pool. More pictures to come- for now its back to the beach!

2009-05-21T15:11:00.009-05:00

Cooper Hayworth Johnson
Faithful- full of life- mature- immature-sweet- heart of gold- prays like no other- FUNNY-follower of Christ-precious soul- helper-friend-big brother-son- grandson- nephew- cousin-everyone loves Cooper J... and no wonder-Take a look at this sweet face. He is not a baby anymore. He is in Middle School. My first born baby... Oh! Its so true what they say about them growing up too fast.I blinked. He is in Middle School. What happened? I can't tell you how very proud I am to be his "Moma". He turned eleven and graduated from Elementary school all in the same month. It was almost more than this Momas heart could take. I am so happy about the young man he has become. I wish you could all hear him pray. That boy can PRAY!

This is the last Elementary School Chapel for him. Sigh.

His very last Elementary Field Day.

Here he is hanging with his buddies... playing ball. I LOVE his friends too. He has done such a great job choosing friends. They are all "good boys". I love them. I am proud of his decision to be all he can be. I am proud of his contagious smile and laugh. I am proud of how smart he is and how quick witted he is. I am proud of how hard he tries to please The Lord. I am proud.

Happy Birthday Sweet Love! You will always be my favorite son! You are something special!

Now.... You didn't think you were walking away without seeing pictures of Buttons did you? So BIG and so SWEET! I could kiss her lips off her face!

My Easter Blessing

2009-04-13T21:43:00.008-05:00

Sweet Baby Bunny...

I couldn't resist. I realize its kinda mean to dress your kids up in outfits so that you can get a laugh but I couldn't help myself! Seriously- have you ever seen anything so stinkin' cute in your whole life? Me either.

What could be more cruel? How about forcing them to come face to face with a 5 foot 2 inch bunny with eyes bigger than my head? Yep- pretty darn cruel but so darn funny! Relax friends- I took her away as soon as she started to really cry!

From the look on her face, all was forgiven on Easter morning when Hutt got a look at her basket! Priceless!

Hope you all had a great Easter. I will add more cute Easter pictures later- hopefully tomorrow.

Perfection

2009-03-28T18:22:00.007-05:00

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your words are wonderful, I know that full well My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. " Psalm 139 (13-16)

I have five children. My first four were born with little drama. We were a family of six for five years. Never planning on any more children, we were sailing. I have read these words many times before. They were written on birth announcements and I believed every single word with all my heart. God MADE them all. He formed them, "knit" them together. Cool! I have to say that these verses took on a whole new meaning when I found out that Hutton would have a bad heart. Among my pleas to God, I would hear, " PERFECTLY MADE" being whispered in my ear. PERFECT. Hutton is a perfect creation of God. Hutton's terribly disfunctional heart is a perfect creation of Gods. It was a surprise to us but I rest knowing that none of it was a suprise to Him. Just like Hutton sailing through her stage 1 and 2 surgeries was no suprise to Him either. Her days have been planned and He is holding his precious lamb in his hands. She has the perfect heart that was intented for her made by HIM. How special that is. Tonight I am thankful for her perfect little nose, her perfect little toes, her perfect little smile, and her perfect little heart. Thanks be to GOD!

Mean girls

2009-03-25T12:27:00.004-05:00

Hutton and Maggie Dean Murray. Bffs...
These two are so stinkin cute and oh so mean! Oh so sweet and oh so fiesty! Best friends they will be. Sweet sweet blessings from a sweet sweet Jesus.

Gods provisions-

2009-02-18T19:22:00.002-06:00

Tonight as I sit here typing away at my laptop in my bed, I can hear the beautiful sounds of Jack Johnson through the monitor. Hutton is tucked away so sweetly in her bunny bed and the rest of the crew is settling down for the night. The music is more than a tool that we use to lure Hutton off to sleep. It IS HER. Its Hutton. Just like the sweet smell of vanilla. Its not just the flavor of her formula and the sweet sweet smell of her. It IS her. So many things that trigger emotions in me that remind me of HER... my miracle.

I am assuming if anyone is still reading this blog after my "little break", you also read caringbridge and know that Hutton was recently in the PICU with Strep throat and a respitory virus. Bringing us crahing back down to reality that we have a sick baby. A baby that was SERIOUSLY ill with strep throat. A baby that, as I sat in her hospital room, I wasn't sure if she was strong enough to get rid of this nasty virus she had. I don't know WHY I wouldn't think that she wouldn't be strong enough. This sweet baby girl is the strongest person I have EVER known. She kicked it in the rear and came home. A few days later... sick again- back on oxygen. I feel so helpless. I am so tired. I can't imagine how tired she must be.

This post isn't about me. Its not REALLY even about Hutton. Its about how God has provided for us every single time. I have been an emotional wreck today. Most likely because I am sleep deprived. The weather was NASTY today. Flooding rains. Hutton had a doctors appointment. I soooo didn't want to get out but it was her cardiologist appointment and I knew she needed to be seen. So off we went and as soon as we approached the office building the heavens opened up and the rain poured. In my head, I keep saying, " this is the day the Lord has made. Let us REJOICE and be GLAD in it. REJOICE...REJOICE....REJOICE. Not working. Just being honest here. So here we go, in the pouring rain with a baby, a stroller, a diaper bag, a suction machine, and don't forget the oxygen, to see Dr. Bremer. Did I mention that Hutton is soaked with puke?Well, she is. Now for the part of God's sweet provision. Dr. Bremer! Oh- how we LOVE her! She was who God provided to me today to keep me from jumping ship. Don't worry! I don't mean jump ship as in abandon my family or take my own life or anything silly like that. I just mean... jump ship EMOTIONALLY. You know- have a breakdown. She is a very gentle, soft spoken woman. Its kind of weird to say "woman". She looks all of 22 years old. She is BRILLIANT. So smart. She has NEVER doubted Hutton. To me, that means she has never doubted God. I am thankful for that. You see, while ALL of Hutt's doctors are brilliant and capable, they can only do so much. It is all in HIS hands. I feel sorry for the doctors who don't know that. Can you imagine taking on the responsiblity of life or death? Me either. Everytime Hutton goes into surgery, we place her in sweet Lisa Montenegro's arms and give her a kiss. It is a powerful moment. Powerful because we are REALLY placing her in God's arms and PRAYING that the outcome will be what WE want it to be. That His will is what we have prayed for.

For the most part, I am doing great. Hutton is doing WONDERFUL and I am so excited and down right giddy about it. Other days, I see no end in sight. I see no end to her suffering, no end to her being trach free, no end to suctioning, no end to surgeries, no end to her refusing to eat, no end to her not walking like most babies her age. I just remembered another one of God's sweet provisions for me today. It came in the form of a grandmother and grandfather. We left Dr.Bremer's office and headed to the main hospital for labs. The waiting room was filled with sweaty, "flu looking" kids. No thank you... we will wait in the hall. We stood for at least an hour waiting for Hutton's name to be called. A sweet couple who were waiting for the elevator turned to see this BEAUTIFUL baby sitting in her stroller, hamming it up for anyone who looked her way. That would be Hutton. The sweet lady nudges her husband and points to the cute smiling baby who is cocking her head to the side as to say, "aren't I precious". Then she sees it. She says to her husband- "Oh! I think thats a trach. Is that a...". Then she looks at me. Shes trying to figure out if I heard her and if I did, was I offended. I say to her (smiling of course),"yes mam. She does have a trach.". The lady looks relieved that she hasn't hurt my feelings. She tells me that her grandbaby is in the NICU and they have been told that he will need a trach. I wanted to throw up. I hope they didn't see the terror in my eyes. I reassured them that she was doing great with hers and that she is getting better every single day and she didn't even need her vent anymore and that she was hopefully going to get her trach out by the end of summer, and it really wasn't that bad, and.... then it hits me. When they said Hutton needed a trach, I was DEVESTATED. I was OVERWHELMED. It felt like the end of the world. But guess what. It wasn't. She IS doing great. She DOESN"T even need the vent anymore, she WILL get that stinkin' trach out soon. All this shall pass. God will CONTINUE to provide. He is faithful. He is powerful. He is my father and I love him.

Thanks for letting me ramble here tonight. Sometimes it feels good to just talk about these things. We will all be fine- thanks be to God!

ValentiMes Day!

2009-02-15T17:09:00.013-06:00

Happy late Valentines Day. Here are a few pictures of us celebrating! David took me to Nama for sushi. It was sooooo yummy! I am already craving it again! We had so much fun Jim and Shannon Murray went with us. Nana and Papa held down the fort at home! The kids had a good time! Nana made a special desert for them- CHOCOLATE FONDUE! Needless to say, the kids were in heaven!

Me and my sweet Valentine! I just noticed how cool the building in the back looks. David built it! That makes it even cooler!=)

The kids were out from school on Friday so they had their parties on Thursday. They were so excited to exchange Valentines with their friends from school.

This is Reagan and her pre K teacher. They had on matching shirts. So cute!

Mimi and her Bff ,Taylor Dunn. These two are so cute! They are like an old married couple. They can't stand to be apart and they love each other to pieces but they bicker all the time!

Mimi Kate chowin' down on a mini heart cake that her mama made for the class. So domestic! Ha!!!!

The fifth graders have a party but Cooper doesn't really want me around. I did HAPPEN to see him in the hall and snapped this cute picture! Of course I have to put a plug in for my friend Emily. All the super cute tees are emtannerdesigns.com.

Mary Lawson and her friend Bella! They got to watch a movie after they passed out their Valentines to each other.

Mimi and Taylor at a birthday party about a month ago. It was a zoo party.

They are soooooo sweet!

These are just some cute random pictures. Hutton is so happy!
This is a picture from chapel at school. Reagan got to do the honors to the bible. She did such a great job. I was one proud Mama!

The sweet Princess

2009-02-15T15:25:00.002-06:00

Just wanted to share! Isn't she precious. Her bed is fit for a princess! That she is!!!

Looking back on Christmas

2009-01-01T12:15:00.010-06:00

Just wanted to post a few pictures from Christmas. Nothing witty to say about them. I hope you can see what a great Christmas it was for us. It was PRECIOUS! Especially since we had this little gift home with us...
Hutton in front of the tree in her Daddy's rocking chair.

Christmas Eve lunch at The Hyatt. David's family has been doing this for 31 years. This year was the first that we were joined by The Dunns.
The kids. The Johnson's, The Baum's, and The Dunns
Nana Johnson and her good friend Violet. She has been a faithful prayer warrior for Hutton and she just has a special place in her heart for her. So sweet!

Mary Lawson on Christmas Morning showing off her new laptop and desk.Cooper got a PSP.
Mary Lawson with her china dolls

Mimi and a game-Reagan helping Hutton with her stocking-Mary Lawson Waiting to open presents-Hutton with her favorite toy from Santa- A Jenny Jump-up This is at David's parents. We played "dirty Santa". This is ML explaining the rules to everyone.
The Babies- Hutton and Rebecca
Filling our plates with all the yummy food that Nana made.

Amy, Rebecca, and AlanDavid's cousin, Leah. All the little kids LOVE her!
Uncle Alan and Hutton spending some time together.
Samuel and Hutton
Mimi and Hutton
Baby New Year- Hutton Button Johnson
This is our little family ringing in The New Year.
The Murrays- Jim, Shannon, Maggie, and Dylan

Mimi and Dylan passed out BEFORE midnight! Sweet memories.

Johnson Babies

2008-12-27T19:02:00.006-06:00

Mimi (6), Cooper (10), Mary Lawson (8), Reagan (6), Hutton (15 months)

Aren't they precious? We think so. Heres to saying goodbye to 2008 and looking foward to what 2009 brings! Thanking God for his many blessing this year! Love from The Johnsons

T'was the night before the night before...

2008-12-26T15:59:00.006-06:00

We had the pleasure of being invited to The Sapps for the night before the night before Christmas. We had so much fun. Santa came! Can you believe it?! The night before Christmas Eve? Wow! We felt so lucky to be there! I loved these pictures that April D took. I forgot my camera! She did a great job I thought!

The whole family!

I must confess that I LOVE crying Santa pictures! LOVE LOVE LOVE them!The mamas! Aren't we something else? Who is the tart on Santa's lap?! Just Kidding April! You know I love you! I have tons of pictures from Christmas that I want to share but it will have to wait! This house is a wreck! I love Christmas and we had such a good one! Hutton was precious and so were the other four babies! Can't wait to share!

Here comes Santa Claus...

2008-12-04T04:36:00.006-06:00

Tuesday night we had big plans. I mean BIG- at least to the kiddos. We went to see The Big Guy. Let me start by saying that I usually have a picture in my mind of what special times like these will be like only to turn to David midway through and say, "why do we bother?". Ususlly never turns out like I planned. Somebody is mad or gets hurt or fighting breaks out. Well- I am so happy to say that my vision was not ruined and it was a FUN night! It started out at Build a Bear. The heart support group took all the cardiac kids and their siblings to build a bear and let them each build their owm bear and get an outfit for it. What a TREAT! Then, they took us on over to eat pizza! The kids were in heaven! So fun! We decided that since we were all at the mall, we should go ahead and do the whole Santa thing. Here is the whole gang!Cooper J isn't too big for Santa.

Reagan telling Santa she wants an orange bike. What?! Orange?!

Mimi was a little shy. She told him she wanted a Baby Alive.

Sweet Mary Lawson told Santa she wanted world peace. Just kidding! She wants some new Uggs!

I was surprised that Hutt didn't cry. I was a little disappointed. I LOVE crying Santa pictures!

Here is HUtton with a bunch of bears.

It was so much fun. We are soaking up memories of Hutton's first Christmas at HOME! Its going to be a good one this year!

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-28T13:38:00.004-06:00

Good food- Good Company- Good times!
This year was a very laid back kind of year at my parents. It was such a great day and we had so much fun. Here are a few images of what our day was like....

Cooper J and my nephew, Patch
Me and my big cuz, Chrissy, and my big sister, Jeanie

My nephew, Jack lovin' on Hutton Button

David sitting down for some YUMMY food!

Reagan Elisabeth chowin' down!

Mimi Kate got a leg!Daddy and my Uncle Norris
Oma (my mom) and Mimi sharing some Thanksgiving LOVE!
Mary Lawson gets a hug from GG Dot! So PRECIOUS!
A Turkey induced coma-

and finally.... whats Thanksgiving without a little football?!

We sure had a lot to be thankful for this year. We have had Hutton home in Tennessee for a year now. We have been blessed with many things but realize that family and friends is what its all about! Hope you all had a good one!

Turkeys and Grandparents

2008-11-26T20:31:00.009-06:00

Oh- where to start?! I've been falling behind on my blogging! So much to catch you up on! There is just no way. So- lets just start fresh. ..

Yesterday. It was Grandparents Day and Thanksgiving feast. Whew! I get exhausted just thinking about it again! It was a SUPER busy day and cowboy boots was not the best choice for all that running around. (neither were the Paige Jeans I was wearing but thats for another blog =) )

Let me start by saying that I have more pictures of Mimi because I helped in her class. So here goes- Grandparents day/Thanksgiving Feast 2008

Mrs. Prine's sweet class sitting down to the feast that they had spent the day before preparing.

And now for the giving thanks part....Mimi and Sydney ( not sure why this is underlined in blue)The wild little IndiansMimi and Mrs. Prine in the campus center getting ready to perform for the grandsReagan Elisabeth at her feast over in Mrs. Hamel's room Mason Cosey giving Reagan some love.

Rea telling everyone about her picture of her grandparents

SingingDaddy and ML watching Reagan sing
Reagan and Mrs. HamelReagan and Parker Peterson in the campus centerThe little girl who sat in front of me and April who kept telling us to shush!

Cooper and ML hangin in the fifth grade room

The girls with Nana and Papa and Oma and Opa
And of course, the day ends like this. At least one having a fit about something!

All in all, I thought it was a precious day and I know we have so much to be thankful for but I have to mention how thankful we are for CAK. I love it that they could sit down to their feast and thank JESUS for their blessings!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Enjoying Fall

2008-11-11T07:17:00.002-06:00

My sweet baby girl-

Hutton Button. My sweet OLDEST baby girl, Princess Picklehead.

Goofing off with the camera and a very serious Hutton. Goodtimes.

Take her down, pass her around....

2008-11-02T15:51:00.023-06:00

Halloween-ing!

Okay... so I took a ton of pictures but I have no patience for blogger to download them BUT I did want to share a few (okay, quite a few) so here goes- Our Halloween Night.Let me start by telling you that Hutton had two costumes. The adorable tutu is from her best beau, Dylan Urbanick up in Pennsylvania. She looked sooooo adorable! The headband flower was bought in Haddonfield. She HATED the headband. Of course, I made her wear it for a few pictures and although she wasn't crying in all of them, this is what they mainly looked like...

So we had a quick wardrobe change and she was MUCH happier! Cute little pumpkin! This was Parker Dunn's old costume. Precious! Just to think that last year, Hutton was the same color as the pumpkin, well- its awesome to see how far this little philly has come!

Then for the "passing around" part-Everyone took their turn lovin' on Hutton. Although it wasn't her first Halloween, it might have well have been. We were soaking up every moment with that sweet babe!I can't believe I am posting this picture. Can you tell how TIRED I was?!

Jimmy Dunn getting some love in-April Dunn wasn't gonna miss out either!Em Tanner showed in her super cute tee! (http://www.emtannerdesigns.com/)Don't forget about Daddy! He needed some Halloween love too!Then finally on to her nurse, Miss Robyn who took over Hutton duty so we could all go out trick or treating! But not before we got a shot of Hutt with her bff Maggie Dean Murray- (who was a devil who looks like an angel!)Here everyone is getting ready to get on the hayride-'cause..." thats how we roll!" (that ones for you April)Parker and her sweet mama!Maggie and her sweet mamaSweet Hildy and her mama (ha ha! You know I love you Em!) The guys
Look at my sweet Hadly Anna! Oh- I just LOVE this girl! ( I always love the mean ones!)
Of course we had to stop at Oma and Opa's house. Cooper J. getting loved on by his Opa-
and guess who was there "monkeying" around... my nephew, Jack!The girlies- Claire. Haddie, and ML the big guys- Guyer, Cooper, and Haydn (aka Micheal Phelps)

and finally, the night ended with a little candy sorting and smores!
I have no idea what "rainbow skeleton" is doing here. That is Taylor who made up his very own costume. He had the vision of a skeleton that was different colors so he colored it all by himself. He is taking orders for next year if you are interested!

Yes, Parker- I think your marshmellow is on fire!

Good Times!

Pumpkin carving

2008-10-31T08:32:00.002-05:00

Pumpkin carving last night. Only a few fights and a few tears... Mimi gets a little help from De-da. (thats what my girls called David when they were babies).

Cooper trying his best with one of those stencils that are soooo hard. He finally gave up.

Sweet Sissy. As always, taking her sweet time. She is my little perfectionist.

Mimi Kate trying a butter knife. That didn't work out so well. God love her... She IS book smart at least!
I know that I don't have any individual shots of Reagan. That girl is always on the move. She was done with hers in about 2 seconds and then wanted to go spend some time with Robyn (HUtton's night nurse) and Buttons. I PROMISE to get some good pictures of her tonight!
The Johnson gang.

(and I use that term lightly of course!)

Happy Halloween!

Lil' Punkin'

2008-10-30T18:39:00.004-05:00

Hutton's new "funny face". She does it.... we laugh hysterically... she cracks up.

What a sweetie!

Hutton Cagle Johnson

2008-10-29T09:51:00.001-05:00

Sweet

Love

2008-10-29T09:48:00.001-05:00

Love baby...

But baby its cold outside...

2008-10-28T12:33:00.005-05:00

Cooper's last football game. The end of the season. I had fun. I hope he did too.DAJ could have done without the practices but not Coop. He had to be at them all. He LOVED it. Thanking God for simple pleasures. The last game wasn't quite as I had pictured. For starters, it began at 8. Thats right folks- EIGHT. Might as well have been midnight. Would have stayed home with the girls but- it WAS HIS LAST GAME. We all went. Coldest night of the year. Freeze warning I believe. Hutton fell asleep on the way there. Not a good sign. The big girls decided that they didn't REALLY need to listen to good old mom. They left their coats at home. I couldn't help myself- "I told you so". Moms should never say that but I couldn't control my tounge. Hutton was bundled up and looked Oh SO very CUTE! Precious!

But even the cold got to her. Especially when the rain started. As cold as it was, I just knew that the wet stuff I was feeling had to be snow but it was only rain. Cold and wet.

The girls hung in there cheering on their brothers until the bitter end. By bitter, I am speaking of the temp and the fact that we lost.

Good times. Can't wait until next year. I am so proud of you, Cooper. You worked hard and had such amazing team spirit. You learned a TON and really got good. I couldn't ask for a better son!

Pretty baby...

2008-10-28T12:08:00.002-05:00

(with skinny legs)

Finger and fork foods-

2008-10-24T10:00:00.004-05:00

Add this....

Plus this....and you MIGHT just get this....I have learned something new about Miss Buttons. Well, I guess I really knew it all along. She is an independant little lady. I have been trying to feed her and she purses her lips together and shakes her head no. Let her have the control and its a different story. I can almost hear her say, "I DO IT!!!" just like my other independant little ladies.

And now for a little dessert!
Nothings better than a little chocolate! Yummy!

Home from Philly

2008-10-22T06:48:00.008-05:00

Well- we are home! A super great visit in Philly! Hutton sailed through another surgery and is happy to be tubeless. Now isf we could get that trach out! In God's perfect time... right? I just wanted to share some memoral moments from our time in Philly and Haddonfield, NJ at Hutton's "Aunt Stephanie's" house.Hutton's last picture with her NG tube. She was sleeping just before we walked her down to the OR.Hutton came back up from surgery awake and off her vent but quickly fell fast asleep. Ahhhh- those drugs are good! She often falls asleep with her leg in the weirdest positions! After she woke up, I had to get some PJ's on her. I hate it when she is lying around in a diaper. It makes her look so sick! This is the first face shot without her NG tube! Yea!The next morning, I was getting her dressed- yes, complete with a hairbow. Her nurse came in and laid down her flow sheet. Hutton grabbed it and started checking out "her numbers". At this point, I believe Hutton could diagnose and treat herself! Ha!Hutton sitting up like a big girl, loving on her lamb, Tina. (thanks Tina Thompson! I promise you, this child LOVES her lamb!)I think this picture is precious and sad all in one... don't you?!Just before we got to leave on Friday, Jill Sullivan came by to entertain Hutton. She loved the balloons that the bible study girls sent! Of course the Elmo balloon was a big hit!When we arrived at Stephanie's, Hutton was so excited to see Savannah! She LOVED her. Savannah was a good sport and so gentle. The next morning when we came downstairs, Hutton was looking for her friend...Ah- there she is!!!!Now I think I will try out Uncle David's chair while he is away.
We got dressed and ventured out for the day. We were there for the perfect weekend! Haddonfield was having a fall festival. This is the most precious town! I would move there in a minute if DAJ would follow! We ate lunch at a little resturant on the street. Quite possibly the best french toast I have EVER eaten. Hutton was loving the little bites I was giving her.

Next we went to the nursery to get some mums and pumpkins for Stephanie's front yard. By the way, it was pretty cool out but Hutton would not let me put a jacket on her.I think at this point, HUtton was over me posing her on pumpkins! On Sunday, we had to head back to Knoxville. We were both so sad to go! We ate some breakfast with Stephanie before we headed out to the airport. I was happy to see David and the kids but sad that I had to leave Steph. She is one of my closest friends who I love dearly! She is amazing! Although I will have to say I was a little disappointed with her dishtowels not being ironed this time! What a slacker! I tell her that I will be able to perform heart transplants too someday- as soon as I finish up these online courses I am taking! Ha!
Good times!

We Love You, Steph! Come to Knoxville soon!

Pumpkins and cute babies!!!!

2008-10-13T16:22:00.009-05:00

Just wanted to post these super cute pictures of the kids. I don't have a whole lot of time to "blog". I am minutes away from heading to Philly with Hutton for surgery. Take a good look at this precious face- next time you see it, it will be tube-less! Yep- The old G-tube. Bittersweet to say the least. Please pray for her tomorrow and the days to follow as she recovers. Mag- Pie... Maggie Dean Murray

Sweet Sissy- Mary Lawson Johnson
Shannon and Reagan
Yummy! Maybe she will eat some pumpkin pie!
The gang- Hutton, Mary Lawson, Cooper, Mimi, Maggie, Reagan, and Dylan. (if anything ever happens to me and David, This will be Jim and Shannon's gang! Can you imagine?!)

Hutton, David A, and me

Mimi Kate...so sweet!

Are we in Texas?!
My Man!
My boy! Cooper J!
Uncle Jom and Dylan seeing how tall they are this year.
Reagan and Dylan. I love how he is looking at her!
What a great big sister!

Mag pie and Mimi
Chowin' down on healthy hotdogs!
Burning off lunch- climbing the big wall! Mary Lawson and Cooper J.

The Hayride- ML and Rea

This is the cute pumpkin I want!

Going home! Hutton is not letting go of her pumpkin! Thanks Murrays for an awesome afternoon! We love ya'll! My next post will be from Philly!

Baby love...

2008-10-06T11:53:00.001-05:00

"Hey sweet girl, can I buy you a drink?!" This picture was taken right after Baker slapped Hutton across the head. He looks so proud of himself!!
And I just couldn't resist this one. Little baby butt crack!
C'Mon, Baker... don't you know that crack is whack?!

Nope- Not me...

2008-10-06T10:39:00.004-05:00

McMamma started a "Not Me Monday" as in- No way that was me, I would NEVER do that.

Well- I really didn't have anything to say on that matter. I mean... there is no way that I left Hutton in her bouncy seat upstairs so that I could run downstairs to get on my blog then come back up to find Hutton was never buckled in and cried herself to sleep half out of her chair. No way that was me and even if it was, I can assure you that I didn't leave her there just a few minutes more so that I could run out to my car to fetch my camera so that I could get a funny picture for my blog. Nope- you must be mistaken... it was NOT ME!

Heart to Heart

2008-10-06T07:31:00.006-05:00

Look who made her TV debut! Hutton Button Johnson herself!!!

Can you say, "center of attention"? Yep- just like she likes it! Okay- so heres the deal... The American Heart Association Heart Walk is coming up in November. They wanted a face to make people aware that heart disease is not just something that affects old people. There are thousands of babies born each year with heart disease. Cute, innocent babies. Hutton is one. Hutton is their face.Yeah- she is able to have surgeries that will make her heart function but she will always have a REALLY bad heart. 30 years ago, they started doing this 3 stage surgery. 30 years ago- not that long ago at all. If I had been born with what Hutton has, I would have had NO options. Heres why I feel its even more important to raise money for research- they don't really know how long this "repair" will last. There is a generation of thirty somethings out there who are still alive but we aren't sure how long they will be doing okay. I hope for my my daughter what you all hope for your children- I hope that she will grow to LOVE The Lord... the giver of life... her life. I hope that she will get to do whatever she dreams of doing, I hope that she will meet a Godly man and get married, I hope that she gives me a ton of grandbabies, I hope she is always healthy and happy. I hope that all this is possible. We need to KNOW through research that it can be. My friend Stephanie recently got hired at CHOP as a surgeon. She will concentrate on adults with congenital heart disease. How cool is that? If Hutton ever needs another surgery, we can go to Philly and have a pioneer of it to do her surgery. She needs the research done. PLEASE consider donating to this cause. Hutton's life may depend on it. I will be posting a link on how to donate to our team. We will be walking with Knoxville Pediatric Cardiology Group. Hutton is the Heart to Heart Baby! We are thrilled! So here are some pictures from an icecream social to kick off the Heart Walk. It was covered on our local news. We had so much fun! Thanks Dr. Bremer, Dr. Jennings, and Dr. Sharma! The icecream was YUMMY! Reagan and Hutton. Yes- as a matter of fact, we do let the girls carry her around like that! Shes a tough cookie!
Our Support group.
Reagan was getting a little freaked out by the big icecream man!

Hutton's favorite cheerleader... Doc Bremer! We LOVE her! She , "just has a feeling about this kid!".
Marianne Jennings, her daughter, Christiana, and Reagan and Buttons.

Leaving.

Like I said, I will be posting a link soon so that you can donate to our team in honor of Hutton. Please consider it. If you are interested in joining us, email me and I will give you all the info you need! momofcooper@aol.com

Bye Bye Baby!

2008-09-30T14:29:00.001-05:00

Hutton's newest trick. She is so proud! Man! She is sooooo stinkin' cute!

Blogger ate my pictures!!!!

2008-09-29T16:41:00.010-05:00

Well- its gonna be short and to the point tonight. I have been working on Hutton's birthday party pictures for this blasted blog for days now and I had all the good ones downloaded and blogger ate them! I am BEYOND upset right now. I can't find any of the images in my computer anywhere and they never made it on blogger so..... here is what few didn't get gobbled up.
First, I want to show off Hutton's BEAUTIFUL smash cake. Monogrammed of course and made by my friend Merri. Notice the handmade "birthday chick" as a topper. Sooooo sweet! I wish I had some better shots of it.

Next are the cupcakes. Oh my! She made a million I think! They were so tasty and so CUTE! We had so many guests that they were all eaten up! YUMMY!
This is the birthday princess just before the party started. She was telling Papa all about what color she wanted her pony to be. White with brown spots of course!And here she is laughing her head off when we tell her that this might not be the year she actually gets a horse. She says she KNOWS her Uncle Alan won't let her down!

The birthday girl and her number one fan... her Mama of course!
Great Uncle Charlie.
Sweet Maggie.... Hutt's BFF. Poor Mag Pie just wants to love on Hutton all the time. Love on, poke her eyes out, lay on her, pull her NG tube out.... here Hutton is trying to push her back while Uncle Jim sneaks in a kiss on that sweet bald head.

Faithful friend, Lyn Collier gets a minute with the birthday girl. Look who FINALLY closed her eyes! Tammy knows how to get those babies to sleep!
Jenn Roddy and Little Grace. I think if Uncle Alan doesn't come through with the horse, Jenn might be our next bet!

And we had former olympians at her party. Mr. Tony Cosey havin' a sweet talk with Hutton.

And FINALLY, a tuckered out birthday girl in her jammies ready for bed! It was a great day and I am still loking for the pictures in blogland so that I can really show you how BIG and FUN her day was! I also have a ton of new pictures to share so I will TRY to update again tomorrow.

This just in....

2008-09-12T21:52:00.000-05:00

Reagan's message about what happened on the playground today.

Translation: I don't like people screaming like maniacs from a rattlesnake.
( I honestly don't know where she comes up with this stuff! I mean, there really was a snake- a python- but it bothered her more that people were screaming like maniacs.)

And, please excuse the way she looks. We just got home from the football game!

Let her eat CAKE! ... PLEASE God, let her eat cake!!!!

2008-09-12T11:24:00.001-05:00

DISCLAIMER- THE FOLLOWING POST WILL CONTAIN A TON PICTURES OF MY CUTE BABY. ANYONE WITH A WEAK STOMACH, DISLIKE OF BABIES, OR ARE GENERALLY DISGUISTED BY A MOM WANTING TO SHOW OFF HER BABY SHOULD CLICK OFF THIS BLOG IMMEDIATELY!

Guess who turned one! As if you haven't already heard! Baby Buttons! Boy! What a year its been! This child has given me more wrinkles than I care to count! She is worth it of course and its nothing a little plastic surgery can't fix! So- this is how our day went... stick with me here ladies (assuming that I don't have any male readers out there!) Its going to be a LONG one! We wake up to a phone call (the first of a few thousand!) of happy birthday wishes from my friend Shannon who was so kind to offer to bring ME breakfast! FINALLY! Someone who realizes WHO it was that did all the hard work 365 days ago! Chicken minis and a large sweet tea! Ahhh! Next I get a call from my dear old pal April telling me that she and Park and Karen and Kat were on their way over to give Hutton some birthday love. Well- I KNEW what that really meant. Love=food...right? So I got Miss Hutton ready for her "love". Let me narrarate the next few shots.
Ummmm... excuse me- What am I doing in this chair. This IS the eating chair isn't it? You know I don't eat. See the tube in my nose. That means I don't eat. Remember?
Oh- uh... hi Mrs. Cosey. What is that? I don't think I like what is going on here.

Yes, Mrs. Cosey. It IS a cute cake. And yeah- I DO love melmo (aka-Elmo) but...
You gotta be kidding me. A spoon?! I don't think so sister!

Yeah- thats right... you eat the cake. I am full. I REALLY don't want any.

Oh no you didn't! Girl- I will slap that hand of yours!

Told you I wasn't going to eat that cake. Thank you anyway!
A hat? A Birthday Elmo hat?! Did you just get that for me because you KNEW my mom would be secretly DYING inside that I have on a cheesy birthday hat? Ahhh- you shouldn't have! I love it!
Oh! And you brought my friend, Parker too? Thanks guys!
(end of narration) So we ate Elmo cake and Hutton just kind of stared at it. So if you are keeping track, my breakfast consisted of chicken minis, sweet tea, and elmo cake. Breakfast of champions!

So of course, My sweet friend, Marianne, called me to tell me that she had made "the princess" some cupcakes. We drove downtown to pick them up and let her get a birthday squeeze in on The Buttons. Ding Ding... Round 2!

(narration begins again) What the?! Not again! Daddy, you KNOW I won't eat this beautiful cupcake that I am sure really is delicious since it was made by a cute little greek lady, but... nope! Ain't gonna happen!
I don't care if you DO smear it on my lips! I WON'T lick it off! I won't!

You all can eat the cupcakes! (end narration). So we did! Thanks for sharing, Buttons! And why yes, as a matter of fact, they were delicious!

PS- it was our bedtime snack- hence the PJ's!

Its Football Time in Tennessee!!! (and at CAK)

2008-08-31T10:06:00.000-05:00

The very first home game for CAK was Friday night. We had such a blast despite the HOT weather. Needless to say, the Warrior fans were out in record numbers to watch CAK slam Cherokee into the ground. We tailgated with The Dunns, The Sapps and The Coseys. Our "manna" (April gets it! ha!) consisted of hotdogs and organic juice boxes and other goodies lovingly prepared by Mrs. Dunn. We REALLY had so much fun! Here are a few pics of the pre-game festivities.... My Sweet Taylor Dunn Colin Sapp. Isn't he a doll?!

The Rowdy Kindergarteners...Reagan,Parker Sapp, Colin Sapp, Parker Dunn, Mimi, Taylor Dunn, and Mason Cosey

Uh Oh!!!! They've been BUSTED!!!! Just a glimpse into their futures! Ha!
Mary Lawson and Taylor Cosey.

Monkey see, Monkey do! Cutie Mason Cosey.
Pretty Parker.
The Guys.
The dolls! Ha! (Kat, Karen, April, The Warrior, Me, and Sweet Park
Getting ready for the game to begin.
My football boy. At halftime, they announced the pee-wee leaguers. Coop was so excited to walk on the field with his undefeated teammates.

The half-time show.....

The REAL halftime show!!!! Ha! I looked down to see Parker "whipping it! Whip it good!". A VERY proud moment for this mama!

Look at her face! I think she likes it! Yikes!

The last days of summer

2008-08-17T19:41:00.000-05:00

We actually made it to church today! Can you believe it?! We haven't been since the winter... or was it last fall? Anyway- we were there today. All seven of us! Of course, you can hardly see Hutton but you can trust me- she looked precious. You really start feeling convicted when your children say to you, "when can we ever go back to church?" We have been trying to figure out how we were going to do it with Hutton but we could never figure it out. We finally decided to just go and work out the kinks once we got there. Well, I am happy to say that there were no kinks at all. Hutton did fabulous and I enjoyed a great sermon. I have missed John Wood's sermons! (I just noticed that my hair really looks like the 80's! Yikes! I think my bangs are kinda tucked up in my sunglasses.)

Here is Hutton and Reagan.

The rest of the day was spent at my parents with family. Tonight we sliced a watermelon and sent the girls outside to eat it. They looked so cute out there eating watermelon in their dresses from church. Of course, I grabbed my camera.

I love this one of Reagan looking at Mimi.

Yeah- that looks like FUN! Think I'll do it too!

Leaving you with one more cutie! Miss Hutton Button lounging on mommy and daddy's big ol' bed!

Goodnite all! Looking foward to tomorrow with the Johnson Seven!

Ahhh- the smell of new crayons!!!

2008-08-15T12:52:00.001-05:00

I have always LOVED the smells of school starting back up! Weird, huh? Crayons and new pencils are my favorites!

Here are some more of my favorites! Kiddos that is! Enjoy

The football stud! Go Warriors!

Claire, Reagan, and Mimi

Reagan and Mrs. Hamel
Mimi and Mrs. Prine
Reagan, Taylor, Mimi, and Parker at open house.
Cooper and Hutton at CAK open house.

Mary Lawson and Mrs. Lukens

Off to do what it is that I do! Thanks for dropping by! "Talk" to you soon.

Where have you been?

2008-08-08T08:01:00.000-05:00

Grab a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and lets catch up. Sorry its been so long! As usual, life is super crazy here at The Johnson Household. Summer break is almost over which means its crunch time for summer reading. We aren't much on reading here. I would love to read but I just can't figure out how to fit it into my downtime. I mean- between watching "Flipping Out" and Food Network, my nights are full! I don't know what I'm going to do when The Office and Grey's Anatomy come back on! On a side note- if you haven't seen "Flipping Out", it comes on Tuesday Nights at 10 on Bravo. You can pretty much catch a marathon any weekend. I just LOVE Jeff Lewis. He is a riot! You should check it out.

Now for the catching up part! Where to begin? Hmmm.... How about July 18th.

Please say it isn't so! Mary Lawson! You can't be 8! Princess Picklehead up and turned 8 on me! So sad! She is my sweetheart with a little bit of sass!On her big day, she wanted to go to Longs for some chocolate chip pancakes. I know we looked hilarious opening gifts at Longs. For those of you who aren't from Knoxville, Longs is a drugstore that still has the old fountian inside. The food is simple but yummy and the experience is completed by horrible service by the grumpy women who have worked there for YEARS. Its great! Next, we went to Lily's Bead Box to make necklaces and earrings. After that, we went to The Cupcakery for some birthday cupcakes. (that meant I didn't have to bake a cake). She spent the night at a friend's slumber party that all her friends from her first grade class were at. (can I count that as her party?). She had fun and so did we.

Lets see... We will now move on to cheerleading camp at CAK. Very cute. The last day, the parents were invited to come and watch what the girls had learned. Hutton made her first trip to CAK. She was so loved on there. She loved every minute of it and so did we. It was so fun to see the expressions on so many faces as they laid eyes on this precious little miracle that they have been praying for nearly a year now. We will forever be thankful to everyone who lifted Hutton up in prayer. You are precious souls. If you look carefully, you can see her stroller in the midst of the crowd! Moving on, I took a photography class from my friend Lyn Collier last Saturday. I have been playing around with lighting. These are some that I took of my handsome baby boy. Still working on it and I know that these aren't great as far as lighting and focus but I liked them because he looks so CUTE!

Speaking of moving on, we are doing just that. David and I have put our house on the market and are moving. David bought a house in Forest Heights last month with plans on "flipping" it. We (meaning I) talked it over and decided to move into it instead of sell it. Right now, its a heap of mess but I think it will be cute once we are done. We have put on an addition and gutted the rest of the house down to the studs. I will miss my house here in West Hills but I can't wait to redecorate!

Okay- I will update again soon. I feel better now that I have posted something. Its hard to catch up! School starts on Thursday so be looking for some pictures of that! Two Kindergarteners, one second grader, and one fifth grader!

Hot Mamas!

2008-07-01T19:23:00.000-05:00

Last night I got together with the "birthday girls" to celebrate Jeannie, Julia, and Natalie's birthday at The Copper Cellar. We had so much fun and I think we "closed" the place down! It was so good to catch up with everyone- especially our sweet Jeannie who moved to Alabama a couple of years ago. We have been getting together to celebrate birthdays for seven years now. We all got to be good friends in our "PEP days for Moms" group at church when Cooper was 3 months old! Thats been a while back! They are so special to me! I love each of them dearly!

Some man came by our table and asked us what we were celebrating. We told him and he threw down a 100 dollar bill and told us to put it toward the tab. I think he was drunk! Hee Hee! I tried to give it back to him but he wouldn't take it! We laughed so hard about it. Here we are with me holding the money up! Maybe we still do have "it"! BTW... we have 24 kids between us all!

I thought this was a cute one of Leigh Ann Butcher (yes- as a matter of fact, she did keep Cooper and ML quite a bit while we were in Philly!) and Alli Peters! Aren't they cute!
I wish I had a picture of Natalie Keeney with the funky tee I got her for her b-day! Her I heart ray tee was perfect and she LOVED it! Thanks girls for a fun night! I needed that!

ML takes on Hot Lanta and American Girl!!!

2008-06-26T09:11:00.000-05:00

Let me start off this post by thanking Susie Whitener for such an FUN day yesterday! I know that I had a blast and the girls were tickled to pieces with their day as well. You want to know WHAT we did exactly? Well- we hopped in Susie's truck with four of the cutest girls you have ever laid eyes on and headed south to Atlanta to the special preview of the Kit Kittredge- American Girl Doll Movie which is set to hit theatres on July 3rd. We also went to the AG Doll store and the girls picked out a doll of their choice (plus a few extra goodies). The movie was soooo good! I think Susie and I cried off every bit of make up we had on!

Picking out candy before the show. (me secretly hoping she picks the p-nut M&M's)

Here, Mary Lawson and her good friend Molly Mae are waiting for the movie to start. Notice ML's toothless smile. She lost her other top tooth the night before we left. SOOOO cute! Molly and Mary Lawson are teaming up with the shopping bag.

Maggie, Josanna, Molly, and Susie at the checkout for the second time!

Mary Lawson proudly displays round two of her shopping excursion.

Dinner at the American Girl Doll Bistro. They served us a special dinner with foods from the 40's which was the era of Kit Kittredge.

Molly showing Mia the menu.

The toothless wonder!

Sweet Molly Mae!

Kit?!

The girls- very off center but still very cute! Oh- and check out Miss Joshanna on the end. She is only 9!!! She is as tall as me almost! Super model material!

Thanks again Susie for the AG Doll experience! I know ML will never forget it!

Is that the icecream man?!?!

2008-06-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

Had to share- Innocent summertime fun! Last night the kids were outside playing on scooters and forming "a neighborhood club" when they heard the music that sends children running indoors in a panic- looking for money- terrified that the icecream man is going to get away! Good old dad comes to the rescue with wallet in hand ready to chase him down. After the icecream had been eaten, fireflies were caught and put in jars. It just reminded me of being a kid and it was good to see that somethings just don't change.

Oh- and on a side note... look close at the Johnson Kiddos! Boy are they a sight! Mimi has on our neighbor's jacket (the neighbor is three!), Reagan has on her Ugg's and ML has on her bathingsuit because she had been whitewater rafting with The Whitner's all day. I would LIKE to say that we usually don't look this way BUT..... we do! You gotta love it! For anyone who has known me for a long time, you can see I have come a long way! My girls used to look PERFECT at all times! They wore smocked clothes to play in even! Always had a bow in their hair and just the right shoes for the outfit! My friend Libby reminded me how I used to "spank" the babies little hands if they pulled their bow out of their hair. Can you believe that?! I am embarrassed! Well- I PROMISE I will NEVER spank this little one....

Happy Birthday, David Andrew! (AKA Drew)

2008-06-12T11:36:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to my sweet love!

You are a great soul, a nobel man, and have the most generous heart I have ever known. You are my comfort- through our happy moments and our trials and sorrows. Even when it feels impossible to love you any more, my love multiplies by the second! God has blessed me.

Oh how I wish I could be with you on this very special day. My heart is there with you. Have fun and celebrate YOU!!!! I love you, Drew! Yes- I certainly do!

Boating Beauties!

2008-06-02T09:10:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to post some pictures of some real cuties. These were taken on Memorial Day on the boat. We really had a good time with our friends, The Murrays. In order of age...

Cooper- age 10 Watch out for your daughters! This ones going to be a heartbreaker!Mary Lawson- age 7 Watch out for your sons! Her daddy has a gun!

Mimi Kate- age 6 Watch out business world! Shes going to run a huge company some day!
Reagan-age 6 Watch your back! This ones got SASS!!!!
Dylan age 3- Watch out for your daughters again! He has looks and charm!!!

Maggie Dean- Watch out for HER DADDY!!! Her daddy is an ex cop and detective and is now a PI!!! Your sons will be watched VERY carefully! Hee Hee!

We had so much fun on the new sea doo. Thank you, Jim and Shannon for "vacationing" with us this year. Its not the beach I know but it doesn't really matter where you are... its WHO you are with! We love ya'll!

Let's catch up!

2008-05-27T09:51:00.000-05:00

What has been going on in our house... Lots of things since my last post. I don't even know where to start. First thing for sure that I want to share about is that Mimi and Reagan turned 6 on Saturday! They had a surprise party before school was out thrown by the fabulous April Dunn and Ashley Hamilton. It was so sweet of them to make sure that Mimi and Reagan got a special day. When they called and asked me if it would be okay, we were in Philly and really didn't know how long we would be there. I was so touched that they wanted to do that for the girls. Well, as you know, we were back way sooner than anyone planned so David and I got to attend which was fun. The funny part was that I don't think the girls really understood the concept of a surprise party. The confused look on their faces was priceless! Here they are with their cake. Thanks for everything April and Ashley! The girls had a blast!

The next pictures are really of nothing except everyday life here at our house. Hutton hangin' out with big sis Mary Lawson. The girls are in love with her as is Cooper. She has really been a blessing to our family. Some days are so hard but I wouldn't trade a second of it for anything. We are ALL so THANKFUL for her and that she is thriving. She is loved to pieces and I can tell that she enjoys every minute of it Quick wardrobe change for ML... Emily and I have been dying to get one of these cute tutus for photo purposes. It came in the mail and ML threw it on. Now, to get Emily over here to take some pictures! Ha!
Back to lovin' on Hutt!

Coop's turn! She LOVES smiling for her big bro!
I went inside for just a minute only to return to this!!! My "princess" playing tackle football in her 80 dollar tutu!!! UGGHHH!!!!

Back to twirling.And I have to put in one last cute one of Buttons! What a doll baby!

Purpose

2008-04-24T14:46:00.000-05:00

Hanging out with Hutton... some good quality time. When you have five children, it is hard to find time to spend one on one with each individual child. Its sad really. When I get that rare time, I always learn something profound about that child. Something that makes me so depressed to think that I maybe never even really knew them in the first place. They aren't really just this little sweet person that you like to dress up in cute clothes or who are there to entertain you by performing in their tennis matches or watching their childish ways as they play together. They aren't just these little people who comfort you by loving you unconditionally. They are sweet souls who have meaning, placed here by God for a purpose. A real purpose. What is Hutton's real purpose? I don't know but after what she has overcome, I can't wait to find out!

Hutton watching her video.

2008-04-16T07:35:00.000-05:00

The time is approaching and to tell you the truth, my knees are buckling and I find myself overcome with the feeling that I can't take a breath. Then the pity sets in... "Why Lord? Why us? Why Hutton?". The truth of the matter is of course I feel that way, but I feel like it has been such an honor to have been given what we have been given.
The whispering around here about going back to Philly has began. Am I whispering because I don't want the kids to hear and get upset or because if I say it outloud then it will be reality? Honestly I am not sure.

Every morning it is harder and harder to get out of bed. I open my eyes and for a split second I haven't realized what my life is like right now...just a split second. Then I remember.

"Oh Lord, can I face this today? Can I ACTUALLY do this? What if I can't? What if this is the day that I can't?" Then I hear Him. He says, "no my sweet child. YOU can't do this today. You are right. But I will. I will do it for you." Just like a good daddy, he comes in to save the day. Thanking God for his faithfulness, I begin my day.

Please don't anyone misunderstand. Hutton is a JOY! I am in love with that child more than anyone can fathom. I have a bond with her like no one else. Maybe because I don't know how much longer I have with her. What if you had only one more day to live? What would you do? I know just about everyone has thought of that before. Its not a new question. Now, what if you knew you only had one more day with your baby? What would you say to them? What would you want them to know? I find myself soaking up moments with Hutton. Taking deep breaths of her sweet scent in just in case because I never want to forget what she smells like. Examining every inch of her soft smooth skin memorizing every dimple and every scar. Sitting with my cheek pressed against hers so that I will never forget what she feels like. My heart swells so much that it actually hurts. Oh that sweet baby! What a blessing she is to our family. I wish I had done that with all my babies because truthfully, I can't remember those things about them. The things I take for granted... forgive me, Lord.

So, word on the streets is that they want us in Philly on Sunday. They will cath her on Tuesday and then surgery on Wednesday. We are still trying to work out transportation. I will let everyone know as soon as we do.

Oh and the song playing when you first get on the blog... well, I found it on another blog from a family that I have fallen in love with. They have just lost their baby and I have been so inspired by them. This song pretty much says how I am feeling right now. I plan on posting more of my favorites later but for now I am off to snuggle with my Baby Buttons.

Shannon

2008-04-15T08:31:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, my sweet sweet friend!
Isn't Shannon BEAUTIFUL? For those of you who don't know her, the beauty you see right now isn't even the half of it!!! This gal (thats for you Merri) is THE BEST! I don't think I have ever met anyone so loving hearted and kind in all my life (with the exception of my sweet Mimi Dot, "Saint Mimi")! This BEAUTIFUL girl and her equally as sweet hubby, Jim, come to our rescue time and time again when we need them. They are our children's God parents and they come to our aid to fill in the gap when we are having to take care of Hutton in Philly. They LOVE our babies just like we do and I have never had a time when I didn't think I could call on them for anything. Shannon, you are like a sister to me. I love you dearly and can never thank you enough for your undying friendship and loyalty. Its a friendship like no other and I praise God for you!

" A friend LOVES at all times. He is there to help when trouble comes." Proverbs 17:17

Here are some pictures from last Saturday night, when we got together to celebrate Shannon! David worked so hard all week getting the boat ready for our sweet friend's celebration, even ending up in the ER (wish I had pics to post of that!) with a VERY close call and pretty impressive head injury! Of course we have given Shannon a hard time reminding her of WHO he was getting the boat ready for when he fell backwards into the engine compartment (about five feet down) cracking his head open! After an ambulance ride and a few staples he is almost as good as new!
The Girls! Libby, Merri, Me, and Shannon.

The boys... Alan, Gary B, Jim, and David.
Merri and Gary.

Me and David.

Jim and Shannon.

The girls again.

It was so much fun! Thank you, Shannon for giving such reason to CELEBRATE! I mean... you only turn 29 once....right? I love you, Shannon!

Random

2008-04-11T06:48:00.000-05:00

My friend, Tonya does a thing on Friday on her blog called Favorite Foto Friday. There is usually a theme and you post on that theme. Well, I am improvising today and I am just going to post some random favorite fotos.

Everyone is "best friends" at Disney. These pics cracks me up because they aren't staged. Cooper and ML are far from best friends at home but everytime we are at "the happiest place on earth" they are instant best friends. Maybe we could just move to Disney World!

Not sure why I love this picture of Reagan. I just do.I love this vintage look that Mimi has going on here. Its simple and "messy cute" all at the same time.I love this picture of Mary Lawson for many reasons. I love the way her skin looks so baby soft that you can almost feel it through the photo paper. I love how she has puppy dog eyes. I love her big pink lips and the beauty mark on her chin. I also love how you can see how bright and fun her bedroom is in the background.I think I love this picture of Buttons because it was one of the first taken that she didn't look sick. She is a beautiful baby.

So there you have it... random, huh?

Thankful Thursday

2008-04-10T08:45:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here pondering some things and am going to "think outloud" here today so just bear with me. If you are from Knoxville, you may have heard of The Moeller Family. I am not sure if I am even spelling their name correctly, I have never met them (although I would love to someday) but I did have the pleasure of hearing Cathy speak at a PEP days for moms meeting years ago. Mike and Cathy Moeller have a little girl who is a miracle. She was so near to death that Cathy and Mike experienced God in a very deep and personal way. To see what I am talking about, you can read Mike's book, Above The Clouds. When I read it, one thing that I will never forget was Mike talking about the deal with the devil that he almost made. Not that he actually talked to Satan and formed a "formal deal" with him. What it was all about was that when their little girl was so sick, they had set up a phone line where friends could call and get the update about how Morgan was doing that day. This was before caringbridge sites. So, Mike noticed that everytime he put a message on there saying that Morgan was doing great and praising The Lord and giving him credit for what he had done, something horrible would happen at the hospital and Morgan would start doing bad. So he thought to himself that he was going to stop leaving those messages praising God for how He was healing Morgan. Then he realized by doing that, he would be making Satan so happy and that it was EXACTLY what Satan wanted Mike to do! He continued on with praising HIM and eventually, God did heal Morgan. I thought that it was pretty amazing that Mike realized what he needed to do in the big picture rather than looking at the small picture and doing what he thought would save Morgan. All this to say... the devil is trying to make that same deal with me right now and I am THANKFUL for Mike's example so that I don't make the mistake of cutting a deal with Satan. On the caringbridge site the other day, I had just updated about how great Hutton was doing and then her nurse came to get me and we ended up in the ER and I sat and helplessly watched Hutton dying. THANKFULLY, she didn't. I woke this morning and thanked God for Hutton's good days she has been having and when I went into her room, her nurse told me that she had a bad night and she thought she was getting a cold. Sigh. Maybe I should stop thanking God for Hutton's "good days". NOPE! I will not!!! I AM thankful. Look at her! Satan isn't the one who has shown mercy to her over and over again! It been MY GOD! Scientifically, Hutton shouldn't be alive right now. The only explanation of why she is alive is that it is God's will that she is. He has heard the prayers of his people. He IS GOOD and I will not stop THANKING Him for it. Every single day I have with Hutton is a gift from God, not Satan and I will never stop thanking him for those days! So on this Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for many things. The obvious being that Hutton is alive and we have another day with her. Another glorious day given to us by God! Thank you, Lord!
"What I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did for your sakes in the presence of Christ, in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes" 2 Corinthians 2: 10-11

A girl and her lamb

2008-04-08T07:35:00.000-05:00

A little over a week ago, I got a sweet email from a sweet gal from Ohio. Her name is Tina Thompson and she makes the cutest dolls. She said she wanted to make one for Buttons and to check out her website (www.tinathompson.etsy.com) and let her know which one I wanted for her. Well, I absolutely fell in love with her precious dolls!There is something about them that made my heart swell as soon as I laid eyes on them. Not only is it special because it was given with such love by a sweet sweet lady but the bible verse on it is PERFECT for Hutton! " For I am your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you 'do not fear, I will help you' ". When I got it in the mail, it was even cuter! I handed it to Buttons and she instantly grabbed on to it and started to give it kisses! She LOVES holding on to her little lambs ears as she watches her Baby Einstein videos. So now Lamb goes everywhere with her. We need a good name for her. Thank you so much, Tina! I can't tell you how much we love it and appreciate your sweet lamb. She has found a good home next to Buttons!

She sells sea shells by the seashore...

2008-04-02T06:50:00.000-05:00

Look who pulled her tooth this morning before school! So much for her oil portrait that was supposed to be done before she lost her upper teeth! Hee Hee! It still makes for some pretty cute pics! Em- got time for a photo shoot?! JUST KIDDING!

Love Letters...

2008-04-01T10:24:00.000-05:00

Whats this?!....

Let me get a closer look...

Oh! My Sweet Mimi! She wrote me a love letter!

Let me translate... "To Mommy From (arrow pointing to herself) Mimi

You have a great daughter and I love you and you're my great mom."

Isn't that so stinkin' sweet? She really DOES love me! By the way... she sounded it out all by herself! Pretty darn impressive since she hasn't even started kindergarten!

Going South for Spring Break

2008-03-19T21:37:00.000-05:00

Well... not exactly but its as close as The Johnson/Collier crew got! We started out the evening by me and Lyn taking the kiddos (eight in all) to see Horton Hears a Who (or as Mimi says, Horton hears a hoot) at the new theatre downtown.

Guess who decided to pop in and join us-

Craig took some much needed time of from Fitness Together to catch a movie and help manage Sweet Mac. Next it was on to our idea of "down south"... Casa Don Gallo for some Mexican food. Can you imagine what people were thinking when they saw us coming. Probably something like please don't let them be seated next to us! Here is our motley crew-Cooper and Ford were thinking that the cheese dip was so good that they could drink it with a straw! Sick!Mac and Mary Lawson putting on the hats to liven things up a little.The night couldn't end without David pulling Ford's tooth that was barely hanging on by a string!

And then we got to bring Sweet Emmy home for a sleepover. We may not be at the beach but making memories nonetheless!

Happy Spring, Ya'll!

Wordless Wednesday...

2008-03-13T11:14:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday.... on a Thursday (AGAIN). Maybe someday I will get it together. Until then.....

Goodnite.

Birthday Bunny

2008-03-11T19:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Buttons! Happy birthday my sweet baby! They never thought they would see you turn six months old and here you are! You have come so very far. Your spirit inspires me on a daily basis. You, my sweet baby, have renewed my spirit. You have changed my life forever and for that I will be forever thankful. God has blessed you and everybody who knows you. Birthday hugs and kisses to a precious birthday bunny!

2008-03-06T06:36:00.000-06:00

Wordless Wednesday... on a Thursday. Sorry- I am a day behind! Nonetheless.....

Shes a grand old flag!

2008-02-29T10:48:00.000-06:00

Sweet Sis... Princess Picklehead...

Yesterday there was a patriotic Parade at CAK. ML looked so cute and even dressed Mia (her American Girl doll) in red white and blue.

Oh- and who is this beauty?! NICE! Can you tell I have a cold? Hee Hee!

Happy Friday everyone!

Dog Days of Winter

2008-02-27T07:29:00.000-06:00

All these little people around here keep talking about something going on outside. They are calling it snow. Whats the big deal about this white stuff? Is that a snow bunny?
I gotta check this out for myself...

Nope! This stuff is COLD! I want back in!

Whats the big deal?

Tummy Time

2008-02-26T17:50:00.001-06:00

Exercise is hard work...especially for Hutton. She fell asleep in Physical Therapy on her tummy. She was so comfie. She has never slept on her tummy before. Until now...

Naptime is over now.

Now I am ready for some serious lovin' from my Daddy...Yep- EVERYONE loves Daddy!

Go Vols!

2008-02-23T20:17:00.000-06:00

Hutton Says...
Go VOLS!

Cooper and Bruce Pearl Say....

Go VOLS!

Mimi Says....

oops- wrong team!

feelin' the love at the Johnson House...

2008-02-12T12:37:00.000-06:00

The Johnson Girls (minus Hutt) were feelin' the love at the first annual (hows that for pressure Em and Christine) Valentines Day Bash hosted by Hadly Tanner and Addison Smith at The White Balloon. There were a ton of precious little girls and two sweet little boys running around Knoxville's best children's boutique with puff paint in hand and cupcakes dangerously close to the true religion jeans! I thought that Kristine was brave for having it in her store but later found out that she was just a brilliant woman with lots of degrees under her belt!! Ha! She said she didn't think about it until the party had started and then she started freaking out a little! You see, Christine has one sweet little girl who is always on her best behavior. She doesn't know what life is like at The Johnsons! Hee Hee! Oh- it was also funny that another one of the moms there actually said to ME that she didn't imagine that I had a speck of dirt anywhere in my house! Now that is FUNNY! I should have just invited her out to my car to have a look. That would have given her an idea of what my house looks like! Bubble gum stuck to the carpet, icecream smeared on the windows, silly puddy stuck on the seat, mountians of school papers flying out the door everytime someone opens the door. You get the picture. Its always so embarrassing when a teacher goes to open my door in the morning to let the little darlings out and a Sprite can rolls out and down the sidewalk. Hey- at least its not a beer can-right? Yep...life is messy here. Maybe I need Em Tanner to whip me up a responsiblity chart (available at http://www.emtannerdesigns/) and put these little boogers to work! I SWEAR she doesn't pay me!

Happy Presidents Day!

2008-02-09T18:06:00.000-06:00

One the greatest JOYS of being a mom is to see your children in school plays, concerts, field trips, and of course, speeches! Cooper had a report due on a president or first lady and then he had to dress up like the person he chose and say a speech. Cooper was the CUTEST Teddy Roosevelt EVER! He chose Teddy because Teddy liked to hunt like he does. One of the most dreaded jobs of being a mom is anything that has to do with a costume! Thanks to Oma and Aunt Jeanie, this mom didn't have to worry about it! Also thanks to Oma, the report was written and the speech was rehearsed! He was great! I was so proud of him!
Now, this is precious! This is Theadore Roosevelt and Barbara Bush (aka Cooper best girl, Abby Mansfield). She was hilarious! The wig was awesome. All the kids did great and it was super precious!

The day before, I got to go on a field trip with Mary Lawson's class. We went to the library (Lawson McGhee- which thrilled ML since that is who she is named after), then to the post office to mail Flat Stanley. Be looking for him Uncle Alan. ML wants a picture of Flat Stanley at The White House. Then, they rode the trolley to Regas for lunch. At Cedar Bluff Primary, I can assure you that we never got to go to Regas for lunch!Times are a changin' and my wallet is shrinking! Hee Hee! They went with their 3rd grade reading buddies. Mary Lawson's reading Buddy was out of school that day due to an accident involving a baseball bat and a little brother! Ha! No fear- Leighton is fine! She is one of my best friend's little girls. I think their house MAY be as wild as ours with her four kids! Sorry Christy, you know its true! Anyway, ML had a substitute reading buddy, Lindsey Ayres so it all worked out. We did miss Leighton though. She is precious.

This is ML and Lindsey getting ready to mail Flat Stanley.

I love being a mom. I know that most of the time, I look like I am going crazy and it is so hectic, but I really do love my job and love my babies... all five of them. They are each so different and so much fun and they teach me something new each day. They have precious little souls and I am so thankful for each one of them.

I gotta go for now. I have a super sweet man upstairs wanting to spend a little time with his super crazy wife. He is the greatest. Until later...

Hugs and Kisses

2008-02-05T20:36:00.000-06:00

Hugs and Kisses to you from us! Let The Johnson gang be the first to wish you a very Happy Valentines Day! XOXOX!
So- its been a while since we last spoke. We are so HAPPY to be together again! Little Miss Hutt continues to defy the odds. She is doing great! Cooper and David are at the basketball game tonight so it is quiet around here. Mary Lawson just wrapped up her first season of Girl Scout Cookie sales. We didn't break any records but she did sell enough to earn a badge. I know that will be impressive on her college applications! Ha! Mimi and Reagan just realized that they will be going to Kindergarten this fall. They have Kindergarten testing in a few weeks. Keep your fingers crossed that they make it! (just kidding). They kind of HAVE to take them! They will be six in May! As for me.... Hmmm. Nothing! Just happy to have my little gang together.
If you are wondering about the super cute shirts.... Yep- Em Tanner Designs. I SWEAR she doesn't pay me for these ads! Hee Hee! Maybe she should!
Off to catch a date with The Sandman. Goodnite!

First Sleepover

2008-01-19T21:53:00.000-06:00

Feeling a little out of place tonite... Mimi and Reagan are sleeping over at The Welch's with Miss Carson tonite. Its their first sleepover at a friend's house. Dee Dee was pretty darn brave to tackle it in my opinion! I haven't heard from anyone yet so I assume it is going okay. I am too afraid to call and ask! So the picture above is of Miss Mimi with the cute chunky thighs! I'm actually missing those little monsters!

Can't you just see the meaness in their eyes!? Oh, and I don't think that this picture would classify as "messy cute". Its just plain ol' messy! This is what Mimi and Reagan look like when Mommy is out of town! Its okay, David... You know I love you!

Oh! I miss them being babies! Look how cute and sweet! Now they are little girls...full of sass and spunk!
Gotta go and cry myself a river! Tomorrow when they get back home, I will be trying to sell them on the black market again! Anyone interesred?

Snow?

2008-01-16T20:03:00.000-06:00

Hey Friends-
Its been a while. Emily "guilts" me into posting telling me when its time to update. Tonite will be a short one! I am sooooo tired! Not complaining- tickled PINK to have our little one home! I got some cute shots of her tonight. She pulled her NG tube out so I took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed my camera! Wish Em was here but I will give her what I got and let her work her magic! I know she is mine but... she IS really CUTE!

Speaking of cute....

Check out those chunky thighs! I guess she takes after her Mama! And in case you didn't know it, pink boots DO go with everything ( even your PJ's!)
And, speaking of PJ's, my big kids all got out of the bathtub tonight and put on their PJs inside out. Apparently, if you do this, it will SNOW! You also must flush a piece of ice down the potty and throw a cube out a window. We did our part- now its up to you!

I REALLY wish it would snow. Who doesn't like a good snow day? I know it won't amount to anything. Bummer! Then again, being at home with five crazy kids kinda sounds like torture! I'm a glutton for punishment.

Well, goodnite for now. Maybe my next post will be pics of my little snow bunnies! I won't make them wear plastic baggies over their mittens like my mom made my big sis and me! How embarrassing!

This just in...

2008-01-11T15:24:00.000-06:00

This just in.... our mailbox that is! Our Favorite Surgical Fellow, Aunt Stephanie Fuller, sent the CUTEST clothes from a precious boutique in Philly. Hutton was so HAPPY to get them and was even happier when I asked her to model them for me. Isn't she cute?!

Peace Out, Philly!
This one is a little big but will fit perfectly by the time we go back to Philly for stage 2! Aren't babies in hoods precious? This one is! Thank you Aunt Steph and Uncle David! We love you! You are the BEST!!! See you soon!

Sweet

2008-01-10T09:04:00.000-06:00

Sweet! Just so stinkin' sweet!

Messy Cute

2008-01-08T12:31:00.001-06:00

Not much going on here at the Johnson household. Kids in school, hubby back at work, baby sleeping... life after Christmas break. I wish that I had something really "blog worthy" to share. Maybe I should have taken some time to snap a few pictures from the other night- ya' know- the ambulance ride to Children's hospital. A couple of fire trucks, a couple of ambulances, a few police cars... oh how the Johnson girls LOVE drama! For anyone who hasn't heard, Hutton is fine. She is great.

And... since the topic of the day is "Messy Cute"( see Em's posthttp://emtannerdesigns.blogspot.com) , Here is one of my favorite "messy cute" pictures of ML. Just a typical morning at The Johnson House. Now that is cute!

The ORIGINAL "ML" dot....

2008-01-02T21:34:00.000-06:00

A "ML" dot....hmmmm....what an original thought! When emtannerdesigns first came about ...i said...hmmm-i want the initial tees (which originated at emtannerdesigns) but NOONE EVER DOES A DOUBLE NAME INITIAL...so w/my input emtanner did it! So the initial tee w/ml was designed FOR mary lawson specifically ...and everyone else started ordering like that too after they saw her ML sample...mg's, mk's, you name it!...kind of cool...funny thing is....em & i just realized ML doesnt have an ML tee yet...but every other double named kid in various cities and states do! ha....She will be getting one next week though...check the white balloon for super cute valentine's day tees em is cookin' up! Super busy since were all home but ill try and update again soon!

2007-12-30T08:18:00.000-06:00

Ahh- Christmas break! I have always LOVED it. Long naps, watching the kids play with their new stuff from Santa, good food, watching movies all day long... the list goes on. This Christmas break has been far from that but I am still loving it as we are preparing to bring home our newest Christmas princess, Miss Hutton!

We have been going back and forth to the hospital AND trying to get her room ready. We are so excited! If all goes according to plan, we will be home on Wednesday.

Here are are few pictures of our Christmas. I hope that you all had a great one! We are looking foward to 2008. Reagan reading one of David's Christmas books from his childhood.

A Christmas Eve traditon. All the kids sleep in Mom and Dad's bed.

Got eggnog?

What would Christmas be without good Old Uncle Steve?

My Sweet Baby Jack! Isn't he sooo stinkin' cute!?!

Patiently waiting for gifts to be passed out at Opa and Oma's house.

Mimi telling Nana what she wants Santa to bring her.

Happy New Year! Be looking for a New Year's card from The Johnson's! The fabulous Emily Tanner just finished designing them and they are very cute! You can see her stuff at www.emtannerdesigns.com.

Christmas Donkey

2007-12-22T08:19:00.000-06:00

Its that time... Christmas parties and programs. My girls have been so cute lately. They play "the activity" also known as the nativity. I hear "you be Joseph, I'll be Mary, and Reagan, you'll be the donkey." Reagan is always the donkey. Thats what she WANTS to be. Everytime! So, she has been talking about the play that her class is doing for all the mommies and daddies at her Christmas party. She, of course, is the donkey. I have to say, she was THE BEST donkey ever! She was so cute!!! It started a little shakey. She came out and was a little embarrassed so she starts sucking her thumb and talking like a baby. The child has NEVER sucked her thumb. She starts saying, "donkey sucking fumb". I was horrified. "What is she doing? She doesn't suck her thumb. David, make her stop. Please!". She quickly pulled it together and did a bang up job! She stole the show! I'm sure all the mommies thought that their baby was the star.

Mimi is in a different class. They didn't have a play but their party was very sweet and they had fun. Mimi was proud to have her daddy there.

Cooper's party was at the Ice Chalet. All the forth grade was there. They had such a blast. They have such a sweet group of boys in the forth grade. After the party, Coop and I went shopping for the perfect gift for his best girl's birthday. He spent a lot of time picking the perfect thing out. It was sweet.
The night before, we had our annual PJ's and milkshakes night. Thats when we ALL get on our PJ's and load into the truck and get eggnog milkshakes from Arby's and drive around looking at Christmas lights. Here is Coop and Reagan hanging out the sunroof waiting on me to get in the car so we can go!

Reagan made it about 15 minutes before she fell asleep. Here is David carrying her in...

The next pictures are of my little sugarplum fairies dancing around. They can play great together when they aren't beating the you know what out of each other.

Mary Lawson wanting to show everyone her tree.

Sweet Sis! She is getting so old! Oh how it breaks my heart. When I look at Hutton, it takes me back to when sissy was a baby. It seems like yesterday. Hutton is as sweet as Mary Lawson was.
Mary Lawson and Mimi. This is before the Christmas parade downtown a few weeks ago. aren't they sweet?

I hope to post some really cute pics tomorrow of something that David is helping Santa out with today. Stay tuned...

Three Wise Boys!

2007-12-19T07:41:00.000-06:00

So... Last night is the big Christmas program at CAK. Cooper had a solo. It really wasn't a solo. It was more like a trio. It was very cute. He was so funny. He got up to the mic with his buddies, Jake and Sam, and those boys were so tickled that I didn't think that they were going to be able sing! Then they all got their game face on and pulled through it! They did great. David couldn't be there because it was the David A. Johnson GC christmas party. I videoed it so that David could see it. I got a couple of cute pics but not many because I was trying to video.

After Cooper's part was over, he appeared quite bored with the whole thing....

All in all a fun night.

The next pictures are from the night we made our gingerbread houses. It was so much fun. Everyone was doing such a great job and being so sweet until..... Yep- in true Reagan and Mimi form, they just HAD to act up! I turned around to see Reagan with a sharpie in hand writing her name on Mary Lawson's house. She proceeded to tell me that Mimi had written on ML's friend's (Sheridan) house! I was so mad! WHY??? WHY do they do the things they do?!

The little girl in the brown shirt is not one of mine, but I would take her in a heartbeat! She is a doll. Thats Mary Lawson's buddy, Sheridan.

Well- I am off to go do what it is that I do. Tomorrow....Christmas tree decorating pics! I KNOW that you can't wait! HeHee!

2007-12-18T09:15:00.000-06:00

Well- I have been sucked in! Thanks Em! Like I have time for this! It just looks so darn fun! I hope to post some pictures here of our FIVE babies! I plan on keeping our caringbridge site going to post "Hutton News" and this site will be just to vent or blab. Starting now!

Reagan woke up with pink eye this morning. Wouldn't you know it! Mimi was so MAD when she heard me say that Rea would be staying home from school. Then I got a good look at Mimi and guess what... yep! She had some pretty impressive ooze dripping out of her eyes. She was very happy to hear that she has pink eye too! Now I have two little helper elves helping me to wrap presents this morning. David will be home soon and then I will spend some time with Hutton.
As far as Christmas goes, I think I am about done. All I have left to do is the famous Johnson Christmas card... no pressure Em!!! Hee Hee!

I thought I would share some pictures showing the "holiday bliss" at our house. The one of our stockings- well... I just love it! It shows our family ALL together even if it is just our stockings and not our bodies. We have never ALL been in the same room together. Only three at a time at Hutt's bedside. If you look close, you will see our elf-Bobby Bucheit. I am sure he gets a ton of material to take back to Santa at The North Pole about The Johnson Gang!

The Nativity is on here to make my family green with envy! It was my grandmother's, Mimi Dot. When she moved in with my parents she had to get rid of stuff and I got it! We all have a picture of us as babies looking at the baby Jesus wanting to touch it so badly but knowing that our mom would KILL us if we did! I think that everyone was so jealous that I got it!

This one of Mimi is so sweet. The night we decorated our tree, She ran and got some paper and started asking me how to spell a bunch of words. She was wanting to write a letter to Santa telling him that Hutton is in the hospital and to leave her gifts here! Ahhh- maybe I am doing something right!

I will post more pictures later. For now, I am off to see Miss P-Nut Butter- Princess Buttercup- The Biscuit- Hutton Hooten Annie!

Later!