At Your Request....

So, we went to the valley this weekend and the question I was asked the most was when was I going to update the blog. So, here goes....

Surprise (sarcasm), we're pregnant....quick run down....due November 6th according to the ultrasound....how did I tell Ross - I had Shelby tell him she wanted to tell him a secret. This usually means she is going to stick her tongue in his ear (you know who taught her that, so beware if she wants to tell you a secret). I told her to tell him she was going to be a big sister. She instead said, "I'm going to be your big sister". He still got it and shot me a look. It was somewhere between shock and shock and are you serious. This baby was not a surprise for us but not exactly planned out either. The Johnson extended family are notoriously fertile and we are no different. I've been sick, really really sick. I am feeling a lot better but still feel like the world is spinning fast and really the only thing that helps is laying flat. I am basically worthless so a big "You're Amazing" goes out to Ross. I go back to the Dr. tomorrow.

Easter was a blast and Shelby had so much fun seeing everyone and playing with her cousins. There were lots of Easter egg hunts and she still has one more round of egg hunting to go. She is doing well at school and only has a month left. She will be going to "summer school" one week out of every month this summer. Most of her little friends will be in her class and then she starts again in the fall. Her schedule for next year is T, W, Th 9-2. She has learned a lot and I am very thankful we put her in preschool. Swim lessons are still going great. She still enjoys her teacher, Ms. Tracy, and does not leave her lesson without giving her a hug.

Ross enjoyed his time in the valley and went fishing, golfing and revisited his childhood and played some video games with his brother. They were laughing so hard that Sarah and I just laughed and rolled our eyes. They are such little kids when they get together, it's great. Ross' company sent out letters notifying 650 people out of the 1500 at the plant that they would be losing their jobs in mid June. Thankfully, Ross dodged the third round of layoffs and did not get a letter. They sent them out so that people got them over the weekend so today is the first day that Ross has been back at work since they were notified. Probably not a great atmosphere at the moment. Ross is still taking his Tuesday night class at work (that is where he is now). His last class is the first week of June. He takes his 4th test this Friday and then will take his final test once the class is over. He has done so well at it and it will be huge on his resume, when the time comes to update it.

As for me, real estate stinks. It is slow and I am not enjoying it at all at the moment. I am trying to do as much in the little time that I have left before the baby gets here but I seem to be going around in circles. I know someone needs a million dollar ranch out there, I just know it :).

What else??? Yeah we are boring so pretty much nothing. Oh yes, my sister, Kristen, is getting married (9/10/11) and I am the matron of honor and Shelby is a flower girl (as I cringe). The last time she was a flower girl did not go well and was very stressful so I am hoping the year and a half will make a difference and she will walk down the aisle to stand with mommy.

Jacked Up!

Probably the most interesting part about having a three year old is the funny stuff that they come up with or repeat. Tonight Shelby had my ear bud headphones and they were tangled in a knot. She brought them to Ross and said, "Daddy can you fix these they are all jacked up". Ross and I died laughing. And then she said, "Mommy jacked them up". Tonight after Shelby read me a story. Yes, she pretty much knew it word for word! I was saying goodnight and closing her door when she said, "Mommy can I tell you something (I said yes), can you clean my playroom, I don't want Granny to see it". Heaven help me I live with 2 clean freaks!

Zoo Time

Last Friday Shelby, Granny Bananny, and I headed out to the zoo. Mom wanted to do a trip with Shelby and what we had originally planned ended up not working out so we headed to the zoo. It was a great time and the perfect day to go. Shelby had a blast and loved all the animals. She loved the squirrels and the "free" birds just as much :). Since it was such a beautiful day the animals were out and curious. The huge oraguntan sat about 2 inches infront of the glass and just stared at all the little kids including Shelby. I tried to get a picture of this but was not successful. I would have to say that he looked like he was Shelby's cousin with his crazy hair. The lions were all sitting right infront of the glass too and I got a picture of the girl lions with Shelby. Shelby loved all the little monkeys and decided they were "so cute, and so sweet". We ate lunch at a restaurant and got to eat infront of the rhinos. Shelby thought she could call them so she kept saying, "here Rhino". Probably the most fun that she had was going into the petting zoo and playing with the goats. The zoo provides brushes for the kids to use to brush the goats and Shelby took full advantage and brushed one of the goats. On our way out we hopped aboard the train that goes around Hermann park. It was a nice ride and Shelby loved it and the train whistle that she got. Needlesss to say, we did not make it very far out of the parking lot when I heard the smaking of Shelby sucking her thumb....she was out! Thanks to Granny for a fun trip!

To Uncle Wayne - flat Stanley went to the zoo with us....I will send you the pics.

Swim lesson update....Grandma and Grandpa Johnson got to go to Shelby's makeup lesson on Saturday. Sadly, it was not Ms. Tracy teaching so the teacher did not know that Shelby could float well and held her most of the time and they didn't get to do any of the fun stuff. She has never had a lesson where they didn't dive for rings at the end, put the ring on their head and sing their goodbye song. It was kind of a bust but today was TOTALLY different. They put little flippers on the kids. The other little girls did their swimming to Ms. Tracy and it didn't make a difference. Shelby went for her first turn and she did really well. In fact, the next two times Shelby went, Ms. Tracy backed up to the middle of the pool. Shelby swam all the way to her and then rolled over on her back and floated. Ms. Tracy was SO excited and gave Shelby lots of hugs and high fives. I wouldn't have believed it if I had not seen it for myself. I guess she has her daddy's tree trunks and has some power in them. So proud of you Shelby!

Surprise!

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I am actually blogging. There is no way to go back and tell you everything. Way too much has gone on and I haven't had time to do this.

Shelby is staying busy with school 2 days a week and swim lessons 2 days a week. She has turned into a regular fish or as she and her daddy say, "a crocodile". She is doing great at it and they can throw her in the water and she pops up, flips on her back and floats, and floats, and floats. She goes down the slide into the pool and pops up and gets on a mat in the pool and jumps off the jungle gym (the castle) in the middle of the pool and pops up onto a mat. She floats to the side of the pool and when her head touches she grabs the side of the pool and turns over. Needless to say we feel a little better about her water safety skills. A three year old little girl drowned this week in Katy in her neighbor's pool so it hits home that she needs these skills.

Shelby is also enjoying her school. They do the most fun of activities and the teachers are very creative. Who knew you could freeze paint in ice cube trays and hold them in your hand and paint? I think she has decided that home is boring, which it is. Although, she can be a homebody and often we will be out and she will say, "mommy, let's go home and rest". She has lots of little friends (mostly boys) in her class and they have a blast and are very sweet to each other. The moms are great too and there is one mom that I have a great time planning their holiday parties, etc. with. Her little boy is only a week younger than Shelby and is super tall and blonde. We already have them married off and Ross told her he was going to try and intimidate him when they start dating. Shelby will be going to school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday next year. She LOVES it!

Shelby still loves to walk down the sidewalk to Chapman's house and play with him. Chapman is now talking, so we will be getting out of the car and hear, "SHELBY, KIM" and here comes Chapman running across the grass. He is so cute and gives me lots of loving. Shelby and Chapman play so well together and are like brother and sister. Well, if Shelby had a red headed brother. Rumor is that Chapman will be moving to Oklahoma some time in the next year. Wonder how long it will take his parents to realize that Shelby and I have snatched him?

Ross is doing well and has been busy. One, we remodeled a house to flip. That was weeks of work on Ross' part. The house turned out great and is showing well and getting great feedback. We have had three people want the house but when push came to shove they couldn't get a mortgage. The days of everyone getting a mortgage are certainly gone. Two, he has been hunting a lot. Actually, if he doesn't get to hunt at least every other week he pouts. I have to give him, "most people don't get to hunt every weekend like you do". He is still taking his APICS certification class and he takes his first exam next month. There are 5 or 6 tests (I can't remember which) and he has to get an A on each to get his certification. He can take each test as many times as needed. The good thing is BAE pays for it all and once he gets his certification it is very valuable on a resume. His company is still up in the air as to whether they are going to make it. They have work thru September and then we don't know. Funny thing is neither one of us are worried. Should the plant shut down we know God will provide. I was at my parents house tonight and told mom that we could be moving in, in the fall. They have two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a gameroom upstairs that hasn't been used since my sister left for college. I told mom I would make dinner every night and Ross would do the dishes....she wanted to know when we wanted to move in. By the way, I am just joking about moving in with my parents so no one get excited because my dad said he would rent us a house before he let us move in. I think it has something to do with the fact that Ross is a clean freak! Just kidding, we will make it as always. My mom and dad said they don't ever worry about us because they said I'm just like my grandfather and that I can make money out of a bucket of dirt. My high school volleyball coach referred to that as being "scrappy".

Speaking of the wonderful economy....I continue to list foreclosures for banks. Most of my houses are owned by Bank of America. I am presently prepping two for market. It is sad to meet the locksmith at a house and when the locksmith gets the door open you see all of these items that the family left behind. I went out to meet the locksmith on a house today and there was lots of toys, a big screen tv, clothes, shoes.....very sad. The other one that I am prepping is not vacant. I have squatters living in it. The funny thing is it is 2 doors down from my grandparents and when I called to tell my grandmother that BofA now owned the house and I was taking over she was very excited. Lots of illegal activity, etc. has been going on at that house since it was sold to the people that lost it. I am working on getting the squatters out of the house so we can get it on the market and get rid of it.

And speaking of houses....my little sister, Kristen, is buying her first house. She closes on the 25th and is very excited. My grandmother has been her real estate broker. Shelby and I drove by the house with my mom but we did not go in. Mom told us where the bedrooms are and Shelby picked hers out. Aunt Keke - Shelby would like her room painted pink please. I think my parents are excited to get there cabin back. I guess they are getting rid of their squatter too. LOL - love you Kristen! Kristen did not take that well, I promise.

Gotta go eat some dinner! I know there is no pictures. I will post some soon.

Pictures

Here are some pictures (the grandparents are rejoicing). The pics are newest to oldest. Stay tuned for pictures from Karyn Kayle Photography. No pressure or rush Karyn! Check out her blog and website www.karynkaylephotography.com she is pretty much amazing!

P.S. I am having an mri done on Friday morning to find out what damage volleyball has done in the past on my shoulder. I am in a lot of pain and having problems lifting my arm above my shoulder. Any prayers would be greatly appreciated. I really don't want to have surgery, yuck!!!

Either that is a Gig'em or you just missed the "Shelby wink".

Her daddy took this picture and told her to make the cutest face she could.

mid flippie

Yeah, I didn't tell her to do this.

I've never whined or thrown a fit a day in my life! P.S. Did you know I am a supermodel?

Making blueberry pancakes one Saturday morning in her fleece jammies (we keep it cold in our house) and yes she picked out the wisk to my mixer all by herself.

Gotta love that hair!

Shelby was hanging out the window calling a cow. She would do the standard cattle call (if you don't know what that is I can't explain it) and then she would say, "come here cow, I have some money for you". She has never been bribed with money before.........okay maybe once......

Shelby's daddy and grandpa working cows.

Papa and Shelby on Magnolia beach in Port Lavaca. We pulled onto the beach and shelby said, "Where is my bathing suit?" She got to go in her diaper since she spilled something on her pants. We couldn't stay long but she loved it.

Ross' cousin Kayla and Shelby playing the piano.

Here We Go Again.......

For our third trip to the E.R. Shelby decided to bust her head open and she needed a staple. Most of you know that I don't have very good nerves. I can't handle a lot of stress, it's no secret. Shelby was on top of my desk and I told her to get off and I was on my way over to get her down. Her toes were only an inch from the floor when she slipped and feel backwards and hit her head on the filing cabinet. Of course, I snatched her up quickly and was consoling her. I had almost made it to the living room when I started feeling something dripping on my arm. I remember thinking for a brief second, oh please God don't let that be blood. It was and it was everywhere. I grabbed my phone and called my mom. She didn't answer and she always answers. I called my dad and he was not in the office. I begin to dial 911 (the ems director had told my dad to always call the ambulance because you get bumped up in line at the er) when mom beeped in. There was enough blood where I was panicking but trying hard not to, at the same time. Mom said I will meet you at the ER and I threw clothes on and headed out (I hadn't even brushed my teeth yet). Shelby had calmed down but repeatedly said, "I need to see the doctor". Luckily the emergency room is 2 miles away. I shook the whole way. I called Ross and I told him I didn't know how bad it was because of the blood but she wasn't crying when we got to the E.R. and seemed fine.

Luckily, there was no one in the E.R. so we got in right away. The staff was great, this time, and gave her a stuff animal and probably 15 stickers. They cleaned it up to reveal that the cut was approximately a half of an inch long. They put some cream on it to deaden it and put one staple in. She was a real trooper. We were there for maybe an hour (it takes awhile for the cream to deaden the area, etc.) and her daddy got there not long after us. She was so happy the whole time we were there especially when her daddy showed up. She let the nurses do whatever and told the doctor he was a nice doctor, without us prompting. She did feel the staple though and cried for a little bit. Her Granny and Papa met us at the house with lunch. Her daddy gave her a bath and got the rest of the blood out of hair and now she is asleep. Before she took a bath, I told Granny, I really need a margarita and Shelby turned around on her bike and shook her head and said, "yeah, you need a rita".

Tomorrow......it is Friday.......I shall have that rita and Shelby shall have a coke.....

Freak me out!!!!!! There was blood on the floor, blood on my foot, blood all over my arms and shirt, blood all over Shelby's arms. I left so quickly we didn't bring Shelby's shoes. Here she is about to wrap up her green giraffe from the hospital (Ross says thanks to BAE for paying for the giraffe).

TWINKIES! If these two are this happy at the E.R., imagine them at Disney World!

Just looking for my daddy and waiting for him to come. I know you all love her stylish headband. For you horse people, that is just common vet wrap that you wrap their ankles with. Shelby makes it look good.

P.S. I forgot to mention the doctor gave us a staple remover to remove her staple in 10 days. I promptly handed that off to Granny and said that's your job. I've had enough!

Dirtiest Jobs Tryouts....

Shelby and I are battling the stomach virus. I feel like any time now the guy from "Dirtiest Jobs" is going to walk thru the door with a camera crew. Needless to say Shelby has gotten quite used to being taken to the side of the house and literally hosed down with water. Don't worry grandparents I make sure all of the hot water is out of the hose before I squirt her down. She thinks it is great and treats it like she is in the sprinkler. Cleaning up diarrhea has got to qualify me for tryouts. Other than the explosive diarrhea Shelby has had for two days, she is fine and you would never know she was sick. Unfortunately baby Chapman and Ms. Brande were here yesterday to witness a hosing down. This was before we knew she was sick. I really hope we have not passed this sickness to them! As for me....my stomach is cramping and in knots and well the rest I will spare you. I have thankfully not needed to venture to the water hose :).

I will be posting some videos of Shelby tomorrow doing some funny things. Some funny sayings from her this week.........Shelby from the backseat of the car, "momma, I really need to go home and check my email". Shelby driving around in her plastic car when I asked her if she was going shopping. Shelby's answer "no, I going to China".

This One is for Cody!

Warning, Grandparents, there are no pictures on this post!!!

Well, just like any other kid, Shelby comes up with some crazy stuff. She cracks us up on a daily basis and we never know where she gets her sayings from. A couple of weeks ago Ross went with the guys to New Braunfels to float the river for his cousin Cody's bachelor party. After being gone for some time Shelby asked where her daddy was and instead of saying working or hog hunting I told her he was with Cody. She replied in the cutest voice, "Oh, I love Cody". Just a couple of nights ago Shelby was being silly and her daddy told her she was a mess. She quickly shot him a "I know where you sleep at night" look and said "no daddy, I not a mess, I'm Cody's flower girl". I am laughing uncontrollably now just typing it. She is right, she is a flower girl in Cody and Brittany's wedding and Ross is a groomsmen. The wedding is this weekend and we can't wait!!!

Today her funny moment came at my expense. Ross bought a desk, a bookcase, and a filing cabinet from a charity silent auction at work. This meant I had to clean out the office and move out the desk that was in there, etc. After that was over I started to vacuum the room and Shelby ran in and yelled at me, "what the heck is going on". I guess I don't vacuum enough, LOL!

A Fish and A Shark

I love my Dora the Explorer life jacket. This is heading back to the boat and we have now graduated to floaties.

The Shark scrubbing the pool and the fish.

It has begun.......pool season!!! It is no secret that we LOVE our pool. Let's face it, I live with two polar bears that have been swimming for some time now, but I braved the pool last night and it was warm.

By the end of last summer, Shelby was quite comfortable in the pool. The start of this summer we had to get her used to it again and get her over her fears all over again. Last night we finally got off her off the steps and when she figured out that she could float with her life jacket on and then swim with it on by kicking her feet she was making laps. She would get to the wall and turn around and "svim" to the steps. She did this over and over and over again and would not stop to play with us. I can't tell you how many laps she made but I kept thinking she is going to be sore tomorrow. We then put on her floaties and she did the same thing with those on. She would pretend she was a fish and her daddy was a shark and he was going to get her. Of course, her daddy always got her and would take a "bite" out of her thighs.

Daddy does not always play fair in the pool (I know ya'll are surprised to hear that). He likes to splash Shelby and I. Shelby was getting pretty ticked with her Daddy last night and gave him some real Leyendecker attitude and told him to knock it off and it wasn't nice. Then somehow they both decided to gang up on me and both of them started to splash me and Shelby kept saying splash mama. I started to take up for myself and splashed daddy and then I heard him say, "oh, you want to play". Needless to say I was constantly having to watch my back with these two. I guess mama is just an easy target.

For those of you that have not heard Shelby has inherited her daddy's clean freak ways. I can't tell you how many times this week Shelby has told me I made a mess. I think that is a little backwards. The child is always picking up after me, lol!!! When we were in the pool last night she grabbed a brush and started scrubbing and said, "I clean, I make daddy happy". Her daddy gave her a thumbs up and she gave him one back along with "the Shelby wink". If you have not witnessed "the Shelby wink" you are certainly missing out. I am surprised we haven't heard from a commercial producer as of yet. The child is certainly special.

Since Ross is out of town for a Johnson bachelor party, Shelby and I plan on being in the pool all weekend. Anyone that wants to partake in swim time and popsicles.............you know where to find us!

Pictures.....What you really want.

These pictures are old and they are not in order, but enjoy anyway.




I had to stop for gas on our way home from G.G.'s birthday lunch and belated Easter Egg Hunt. They played too hard!

Shelby headed back to G.G.'s house from the garden. G.G. and Papa Muske had to buy her a new wagon. That thought the one that I rode around in with my sister and cousins was too rusty and old.

Granny counting Easter eggs to make sure we found them all.

Her loot!

Obsessed with sunglasses.

Some loot waiting for her in G.G.'s old garden.

The Easter bunny was here.

Smiles!

My college roommate, Carrie, and her daughter, Morgann (Shelby's college roommate).

Swinging with her "eyes closed" or in our household that is known as "smiling".

Happy Easter

Well, surprise surprise.......we have been busy. This post is going to be short and sweet. We went to the zoo this week with Ms. Brande (baby mama) and Mr. Chapman (Chappy) and had a great time. We rode the carousel, we rode the train around Herman Park, we pretty much saw and did it all at the zoo. It was a pretty day and the kids had a great time.

Shelby loves her Chappy!!!

Today at lunch Shelby's daddy, papa and great grandpa left to go turkey hunting or as Shelby says toekey hunting. I hope the guys have a great weekend, they deserve a break! Before her daddy left this morning he was nice enough to give Shelby a duck call and teach her how to use it. She blew that thing all morning and said it was her new favorite toy. Daddy smiled at me and said, "have a great weekend". Shelby also jokingly called her daddy a toot this morning. Shelby certainly got that right!!!! What a stinker!!! Enjoy the video of Ross packing and Shelby playing with her favorite toy!

This Mess is For You!!!!

Sorry grandparents but this post has no pictures!

Half of them went onto other things and will not continue reading, but that is okay.

One day this week Shelby had her Easter basket full of plastic food and was walking around with it. She got mad at me about something. I wouldn't let her have a cookie for breakfast, or something like that, when she decided that in anger she would dump out all of her plastic food all over the kitchen floor. She looked at me and with her "Vanna White arms" said, "this mess is for you". I couldn't believe the attitude but I couldn't help but laugh. I couldn't hold it in, I just busted out laughing. Unfortunately, since I laughed, I see this same scenario playing out quite often. Just wait, those of you that have read this far. One day soon Shelby will be at your house too!!!

Just a Swingin.....

A couple of weeks ago, Shelby's Granny and Papa took care of Shelby for the day so that Ross and I could go to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo BBQ cookoff with some friends. They took her to see her great grandparents on my side and while at Gigi's house (mom's mom) she discovered the swingset. Granny and Papa told us that night that she was in love with Gigi's swingset so they were going to get her one. Granny and Papa bought Shelby her swingset on Saturday and daddy put it together. The "putting together" was a disaster and most parts Ross had to do more than once. I have never seen such pathetic instructions. I called Granny and said that we decided that we would have rather paid for it and have Papa put it together :). Shelby woke up from her nap and immediately asked to go play at her "park". I said okay. Ross was about 3/4 of the way thru. Shelby went outside turned the corner and was beyond excited. She was in love! She kept asking us, "this is for me, this is Shelby's???" She couldn't believe it! Now every time she has woken up in the morning and from her nap she immediately wants to play with her "park". I was telling her that I loved her when I was tucking her in tonight and she told me that she loved me. Then she said, "and I love my park, tell Granny and Papa I love my park and tell daddy thank you for putting together, I love my park".

On a really sad side note while we were outside putting the swingset together we heard a bunch of sirens and found out that the toddler directly across the street from us drowned in their pool. If you have a pool you must get a child safety fence! So sad!!!

Now to lift your spirits back up, pictures!!!

Which Way to Aggieland

Little Miss Shelby had fun going thru one of the closets upstairs. It was that closet that everyone has that is full of old memories. This closet mainly houses old college memories and Shelby loved going thru all of her daddy's photo albums. She was looking thru the albums and seeing daddy in his skinnier days (his words not mine) and pointed to daddy and said Cody (Ross' cousin). Ross corrected her and said no that is daddy and she quickly said no, that is Cody. They went back and forth and she never gave in. I never really thought that Cody and Ross looked alike but I guess Shelby does!

One of the things she found was our photo album from our wedding and she went on and on about how much she loved my pretty dress. Such a sweet heart!

And another thing she found was Ross "pot" (helmet) from bonfire. She loved to put it on.

In other news, potty training, it basically not happening. I bought Shelby panties thinking that it would help and she asks to put a diaper on because she knows she can go potty in them instead of her panties. She told me the other night when I was reading her a story before bed that she really needed a tv in her room. I told her Granny Leyendecker that and Granny told her that she would buy her one if she started to use the potty. That didn't even help! She will be ready one day!

The cutest thing to ever wear a "pot".

Do you see Ross? I sure do!

It was one of those, let's wear comfortable nonmatching clothes and be lazy because it's freezing outside type of days but Shelby had to put all her bling on.

I know exactly where she gets this from but I am not naming any names.

Showing off her first pair of panties.

Catching a showing of "The Fox and the Hound" at the drive in. Notice the plates and the cup in the "backseat". She inherited the Leyendecker messy car syndrome.