Spring Break

This past week was Spring Break around here which meant the boys didn't have preschool. On Spring Break lots of people take vacations, plan activities for their kids each day, or maybe even go to Disney World. Around the Johnson house this Spring Break we didn't do any of those things. Instead I decided to torture myself and do this:

My goal this week was to get Cooper potty trained! I knew this was my chance to get it done before Claire got here and the thought of having two kids in diapers again made me want to cry. It also made my wallet cringe! Our schedules were cleared and the boys were out of school. I also haven't been feeling great the past couple of weeks with sinus and allergy problems so I wasn't motivated to get out of the house anyway. The first part of the week was a disaster! I would sit him on the potty and he would just goof off and not go and then 5 minutes later he would pee in his pants. He has used the potty several times before bath time so I knew he could do it, he just didn't want to. But I was determined to get this done, so I persevered. There were several times I just wanted to give up and just put him back in diapers, especially the time where he peed in his pants on my new rug! I had just about had it yesterday afternoon and I left to go run a couple of errands. When I got back Travis informed me that Cooper had pooped on the potty! I was so happy and that gave me the motivation to keep going. Today he has done really well. He has only had one accident. We are still working with him about recognizing when he needs to poop, but overall he is doing well. We will see how he does once he goes back to school. I'm just worried about him being too shy to tell his teacher he needs to go potty.

Today I took Cooper to Dairy Queen to celebrate him being such a big boy and telling me when he needs to potty.

House Transformed

In the past couple of months we have been working on the exterior of our house. It was much needed in my opinion! So after finally getting some new windows installed in the back of the house we had the painter come back and paint the outside of the house. Here is what our house looked like when we bought it. It was not attractive, but I saw potential! We installed a new garage door because the old one was falling apart and ripped all of the landscaping out. They had a desert type landscape and it just wasn't our style and actually was kind of dangerous with the kids. They had tons of landscape rocks in the flower beds and cactus and sharp plants galore.


So after painting different samples on the bricks ourselves we agreed on a lighter brick and darker trim. The painter worked on it during the week I was in Tyler with the boys. I was DYING to see it so Travis sent me the following two pictures and I freaked out! I didn't like the trim at all! It didn't look like what I remembered from the sample and I was very disappointed. Travis kept trying to reassure me, but I was not happy with it at all!

When I got home from Tyler I looked at the brochure from Home Depot that had our paint selections on it and it took me about two seconds to realize the painter used the WRONG trim color! We hadn't picked such an awful color after all! So we called the painter and much to his dismay he came and fixed it the following week. We also decided it would be better to paint the garage door the same color as the brick. The painter also stained the doors for us. Travis (my personal handy man) built, painted, and installed some wood shutters and here is the final result:

I think it looks so much better. We are still trying to figure out how we want to landscape the yard or better yet how much we are willing to spend! Once we put landscaping in I think it will really make it feel homey and cute.

Think Twice

If you knew me in college you know that I was involved in Fish Camp at Texas A&M. I was a co-chair my junior year and had the privilege of co-leading a group of counselors who would help welcome a group of freshmen into Texas A&M. It was one of the best experiences of my college years. Shortly after Christmas I got some devastating news that one of my counselor's husbands was tragically killed in a car accident. The other driver was texting while driving, got distracted and crossed three lanes of traffic and hit their car head on. Please take the time to read her story here and think twice about picking up your cell phone while in the car. Life is too precious!

The Nursery!

Travis and I finally finished the nursery last night so it is ready for the big reveal! Many of you have been begging for pictures of the nursery so here you go!

We used all the furniture from the boys nursery- we just bought new bedding. I got my inspiration from a magazine article I saw this summer. The walls are silver, the ceiling is light pink, and then Travis painted a hot pink stripe around the top and bottom baseboards. I have to give props to Travis because he did an excellent job painting!

Here is a close up of the bed and bedding. The trees are wall decals that I found online. The verse over her bed is Zephaniah 3:17, "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, and rejoice over you with singing." This has been one of my favorite verses the past couple of years so I decided to use it in her room.

Here is a picture of the changing table. I found the letters cheap in Canton and Cheryl, my mother-in-law, made me new basket liners.

Here is a shot of the other wall that shows the dresser and curtains. I used an old window I had from our old house above the dresser and cut out scrapbook paper to make places for pictures. Once Claire is born I plan on filling it up with pictures.

Here is a close up of the curtains. I just used white sheers and bought different ribbon to tie at the top for a little more flair.

Here is a shot of her closet. As you can tell, this child isn't going to be spoiled at all! I have been good and have only purchased about 3-4 pieces of clothing. She is going to be styling thanks to her Gram and Grandma!

I'm getting near the end of my pregnancy- only about 6 more weeks! That is very hard for me to believe. I keep saying that I am ready to not be pregnant, but I'm definitely not ready to be taking care of a newborn in addition to the boys! We are excited about meeting baby Claire soon!

Bachelor Week

Sarah and the boys went to Tyler this past week which left me as a bachelor for 10 days. I used this time to get in as much hunting and fishing as possible before Ms. Claire shows up. I met my fishing buds from Houston last weekend in the big city of Seadrift for a couple of days fishing at Bayflats lodge. It was a great time with some great guys. Thanks to Sarah for letting me go and for the Flemings for helping watch the kids. Here are some pics of what we did.

A cold day, but lots of fun

Heath with a big red on the lure he designed. They are for sale soon!

We waded from 7 till 5. Pretty good workout!

Telling fishing stories(Lies)

Box full of reds

Fishing makes Jeremy hungry!

Heath with a nice stringer!

Stinky old boar I shot at the farm. We have caught or killed 20 so far!

We went hog dogging in Columbus but couldn't track any down.Those dogs were incredible! I wouldn't want one of those pit bulls after me. They are beefy.

Trip to Kilgore

Last Thursday we headed to Kilgore to spend the day with my grandparents. It was a beautiful day and the boys love playing in their big backyard. Cooper remembered hiding easter eggs the last time we were over there, so the boys asked to hunt easter eggs. Papa and I "hid" them for the boys and they ran around picking them up. They did this numerous times and it wore them out!

Cooper hunting eggs.

The boys hiding their eyes.

Tyler looking for his eggs.

Showing off their stash. You can see in the picture how hard Papa and I hid the eggs. The funny thing was the boys would run right by some of the eggs because they had spotted some further out in the yard.

After we went back inside to warm up, Great Gramm found an old tea set and we decided to have a tea party! The boys loved pouring their "tea" in the cups and we only had to refill the teapot a thousand times! They had some crackers with their "tea".

Tyler sipping his tea.

They had some teddy bears join them at their party.

Great Gramm watching over Cooper as he poured his tea.

Cooper enjoying his party.

Concentrating hard so he wouldn't spill.

The boys played the rest of the afternoon. Here they are taking everyone's orders:

Tyler serving Grandpappy.

Grandpappy sending his coffee back because he didn't want sugar!

The boys with their great grandparents.

This picture was taken after everybody (including grandpappy) woke up from their naps. They all look like they are zoned out!