are you ready?

Are you ready for the biggest update ever? We have been non-stop around here for the past month and things are finally slowing down for the time being. We'll see how long that lasts! So here we go.......

Bentley's new cutest thing is to say,"Hey Gaige, come sit on my lap and I will read you a story." This is probably my most favorite thing to wake up to.

We also enjoy building forts in the living room.

Jenna through a St. Patrick's Day party. We ate all green foods - jello, pickles, and pb&J sandwiches cut into four leaf clovers with green sprinkles (Gaige just licked off the sprinkles) - and she gave each of the kids necklaces, hats, and little pots of gold. Way to be Irish Jenna! These boys looked like the most adorable leprechauns I have ever seen with their red hair and freckles!

Spring break was back at the end of March. We went to Disneyland and spent a few days at my parents' house. And of course we spent some quality time at the beach.

On May 16th my friend Jenny and I threw a baby shower for our friend Jen. We had each of the guests iron on a pre-cut out shape onto a square of fabric. Then I sewed it into a baby blanket. It turned out super cute.

We had an Easter egg hunt at Preschool. Lauren made these cute easter bunny masks for the kids, we decorated rice krispy eggs, and had a little brunch with all of the moms.

The boys are still enjoying naps together like two little loving sardines in a can!

Bentley turned 3 on April 2nd! We went to see How to Train your Dragon with Shea, Clare, and Nicholas. We had so much fun and the movie was awesome. I made a pirate cake for Bentley and he and Gaige opened their big birthday present from Mommy and Daddy - a baseball tee that also shoots out wiffle balls. Needless to say they are thoroughly entertained with their present. Bentley never ceases to amaze us and he is getting to be such a big boy. We love him!

The next day we headed down to Orange County to spend time with family. Our first stop was Aunt Carrie and Uncle Rob's house. Grandma was there and we had lots of fun with cousins too. The boys were spoiled rotten with birthday presents and had a ball coloring eggs. Gaige is the fastest egg dyer ever. Within 5 minutes he had colored 12 eggs and his belly green!

We spent Easter day with my parents and Shannon and Adam came over too. The boys ate lots of candy for breakfast and Easter dinner was awesome as always. Thanks Mom and Dad.

The boys got so many presents for their birthdays. Bentley keeps telling me that he wants it to be his birthday again, like he hadn't had enough parties already! One of their favorite things were their Buzz Lightyear and Spiderman kites. So we went to the beach on a very cold and windy Saturday with Grace, Lance and Sloane to fly them. Lance dug a huge tunnel for the kids to crawl through and we built sand castles too. Then we had lunch at The Counter - some super great hamburgers and sweet potato fries.

Since Easter fell on General Conference Sunday and we didn't get to take pictures of the boys all dressed up with their new ties, we took pictures the next Sunday. Look at these handsome boys!

We went to the LA Zoo with Lauren, Alex and Austin. Here is a picture of the monkeys!

We had a birthday party for the boys and their friends at the pool. When I asked Bentley last month what kind of party he wanted he told me a "Peter Pan, Captain Hook, pirate party." So we had a Peter Pan, Captain Hook, pirate party complete with inflatable pirate swords, pirate hats, tinkerbell headbands and bubble wands, pirate beach balls, a crocodile cake, and Peter Pan hats for Bentley and Gaige. We had lots of fun with friends!






Happy Birthday Gaige! Gaige turned 2 on April 18th. If you ask him how old he is he will tell you "Thwee." Of course he thinks that he is the same age as his brother. He celebrated with his friends at church in nursery with brownies. And we had icecream that night which is Gaige's favorite treat. Even if it is freezing and he is shivering he still manages to scarf it down. He had to wait till the evening to open his presents because we had church so early, then I had meetings, and they had a nap. Matt said he tried to sneak off with one of his presents to unwrap it in his room before nap time. We love this silly kid!

On Monday we had a preschool field trip and went to the Natural History Museum. The boys loved the dinosaurs and all of the other not so living animals there. They loved asking me what everything was and then repeating my answer. We had lots of fun but I think this is the unfortunate location of where I was bit by a spider which caused my ankle and foot to swell to the size of a 500 lb woman's. It's called cellulitus - the infection of the fatty cells in your skin. Not so fun. It was painful to walk for a couple of days but I'm on the mend.

Oh! And remember that time I got my hair cut and decided to get bangs? You know, the blunt kind that go straight across. You'll just have to wait to see them. They are very successful at covering the wrinkles on my forehead and less expensive than botox! Thanks Kelli, you always do a great job styling my hair!

epicurean style apron give away.

I just added a link picture to my sidebar for Epicurean Style. Michelle always has great give aways on her blog, whether for her chic aprons, or for some other cool doodads. So check out this give away... A Mother Daughter Set of Aprons (just in time for Mother's Day) of my style choice (you'll like them, I promise) or Two Adult Size Epicurean Style Aprons. Check it out here or click the link here on my sidebar.

jinxed.

So remember that one time I totally bragged about how easy my life was and how great my boys are? Well, the very next day the dream faded and reality settled in. Bentley got sick, then two days later Gaige got sick, then two days after that I got sick. Thus our last week and half was filled with whining, crying, and naughtiness! And then to top it off I was super sick. We're talking hot flashes, cold flashes, aching everywhere, and a sore throat.

Now we are better and the whining is starting to fade. I will stop writing right now so that I don't jinx myself again.

hijacked.


So everytime Bentley gets up from his nap he informs me that he slept in Gaige's crib. Well, today I was changing the sheet in Gaige's crib and put a sleepy Gaige on Bentley's bed until I was done. I put Gaige back in his crib and he started bawling. So I asked him if he wanted to sleep in Bentley's bed. Of course that is exactly why he was crying. Bentley was so excited to have Brother sleep in his bed with him.


This week we went to Disneyland, again. Yes, that is three weeks in a row that we have visited the Happiest Place on Earth. And let me tell you, it is the Happiest Place on Earth. My boys are never as well behaved as they are when we are at Disneyland. They do what I ask, hold my hand while walking to the rides, and even help each other. This last time we went we broke off from our gigantic group and braved some long lines so that they could go on some rides we never go on. The first ride we stood in line for was Alice in Wonderland that was about 15 minutes long. They were so good! Then we waited for 25 minutes to go on Peter Pan and they were so good! We also waited in line for over 30 minutes to go on Toy Story Mania. It is seriously a miracle that my boys stand holding my hands in line without anybody else to help me. This is a huge milestone in our lives!


Bentley is really into Peter Pan. We went to Shea's house the other day and he was watching it so Bentley wanted to watch. We borrowed it from Lauren and now it is the only movie he wants to watch and loves talking about Peter Pan and Captain Hook. And now he loves to tell everyone he went on the Peter Pan ride.


The boys spend most of their mornings (when we don't have preschool) running around chasing each other, reading books together, looking for monsters and rattle snakes in my closet, and being silly. They really are great little buddies and love doing everything together. Two years ago after I had Gaige people would tell me that they would be best friends and things would get easier in two years when they played together and loved each other. I thought that day would NEVER come and if it would really happen...IT HAS! And I am so grateful that they have each other. I couldn't imagine it just being Bentley and I together every day. How boring would that be for him? It is a huge blessing to have these kids so close together, even though the last few years I've been in survival mode. I finally feel like I am not just surviving life anymore and I am looking forward to all of the fun we will be having this year!

Matt went out of town for 3 nights last week and even though I thought I was going to die without his help, the boys and I survived. In fact, we did more than survive, we had lots of fun! There were no meltdowns from me or the boys, there was no naughtiness on both the kid and parental fronts, and we didn't just stay at home the entire time either. Another huge milestone in our family.

We now have a Cafe Rio ten minutes away. It opened last Wednesday and we've been twice already. We went Friday night with some friends without Matt, and then again on Saturday with Matt. It's so nice to have something familiar and as amazing as Cafe Rio not too far away! Now if only they had Pepsi instead of Coke. Nevertheless, this equals lots of happiness to the Johnson fam.

Gaige, Bentley and Nicholas enjoying their first ever Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. This works out really well for me because I get to eat what ever is left over, including my own!

The boys and me waiting for the Mickey Mouse Train. This awesome LDS couple offered me the rest of their popcorn to feed the boys because Gaige was eyeing it!