Nameless No more!

So, we played the baby name game for baby #6 nearly 19 weeks since the ultrasound revealed baby boy parts. After searching through literally thousands of names from the Bible, Strong's concordance, various baby naming websites, etymology websites, the thesaurus, and dictionaries...in several different languages, I might add... THEN considering hundreds of names and vetoing the many other names on the list, we are finally down to THE ONE....or well...THE TWO...

Announcing: Wyatt Foster Johnson

Wyatt made a name "ideas" list a while back...I remember bringing it up one after sorting through hundreds of names on www.nymbler.com, where the program brings up suggested names that you "heart" or "Null" to make a favorites list. I ended up with a list of names to check the meanings on....anything that wasn't negative and I still liked...I decided to try out on Eric. That evening, Eric was hanging out in the garage with his best buddy Rob....I remember Eric perked up and it stood out to him right off but I just wasn't sure...we didn't even think about it much and it took a back burner, but was left on the "Eric likes" list....not sure Daddy was even aware of all my lists, and I had several of them...here is the shortest list, and most liked names..

Mama's list

Cruce

Cash

Creed

Ace

Ramsey

Gentry

Foster

Eli (middle name only)

Eric (middle name only)

Daddy's List

Roman

Titus

Given

Lane

Lock(e)

Wyatt


Well just this week, Eric brought it up again and decided that he really likes the name Wyatt and for him it's his "official" first choice pick. I still had that I like it, but a bit apprehensive towards it feeling. Meanings are a key element for me, especially for this baby for some reason. So, I looked up the meaning once more....

WYATT

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: WIE-ət

From an English surname which was derived from the medieval given name Wyot, itself derived from an Old English name composed of the elements wig "war" and heard "brave, hardy". Wyatt Earp (1848-1929) was an American lawman and gunfighter involved in the famous shootout at the OK Corral

Eric loves strong names and this one qualifies in both meaning and how the name sounds to the ear. It's Old English like Clayt's name as well, and I liked that connection.

So, I moved on to thinking about the middle name and what would work with Wyatt. I had 2 choices that stood out strongly...Eli and Foster. I actually presented Foster Eli as a choice to Eric a while back as well...he didn't get as excited about it and after a little while I found that I didn't quite LOVE it either...

Back to the middle name game....Eli was a strong choice right from the beginning. I made a little heart connection with a baby in the nursery. As much as I was hoping for a little girl, holding that sweet little new guy....Elijah "Eli" Huntsinger, turned my heart and made me think for the first time..."Maybe another little boy would be just as sweet". Of course I knew it in my head, but it was nice to feel my heart take notice. I felt like it was God's way of preparing me for this special boy, and I thought giving our boy Eli as a middle name would be a way to remember how God always prepares us for things to come. It was also a Hebrew biblical name like Corban and Clayt have.

So the other top runner was Foster and here is the story behind where it came from. I was at a Wednesday evening service at church the service was opened with "cast your cares upon the Lord". It wasn't a usual way to start a service and it caught my attention. I felt that I should write down the top 3 cares on my mind...and naming this baby was Numero Uno! I sat through the service and it seemed that Pastor Bill kept using the word Foster over and over and it caught my attention. I made sure to look up the meaning when I got home because I felt it had potential for a name. Surely enough, I started checking out the meaning through several sources and liked what I found. I'd had it on my heart to name this baby something that meant...loved, cherished, gift or reward to remind me that our baby was chosen just for us by God.

Foster in the English dictionary showed just that...

–verb (used with object)

1.

to promote the growth or development of; further.

2.

to bring up, raise, or rear

3.

to care for or cherish.

4.

(Noun) a male given name.

Next I looked it up at my favorite name etymology site www.behindthename.com

FOSTER

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: FAWS-tər

From an English surname which has several different origins. It could have originally been given to a person who was a foster-child or foster-parent. It can also be derived from Middle English occupational words referring to a forester, scissor maker, or woodworker.

Woodworker just like Daddy, now that caught my attention too!

The more I played putting the names together, the more I started feeling that Wyatt Foster had lots of potential. So finally, I did one last check on the initials. I couldn't imagine WFJ having anything negative or positive that would pose a problem, but its just something I had to check and what I found helped solidify my choice...I simply Googled "WFJ" and there were a couple entries listed at a Acronym dictionary...bet you can figure which one stood out!

Acronym	Definition
WFJ	Wagner, Falconer & Judd, Ltd. (law firm; Minnesota and Wisconsin)
WFJ	Welded Field Joint
WFJ	Working for Jesus (Christianity)

So, after mulling it over for a little bit longer to make sure I wasn't making a knee-jerk reaction, I decided to talk to Eric about it. So after the babies were put to bed... I let Eric know, that I agreed, Wyatt Foster will make a great name for our little boy. Emotions flooded and tears welled up in me and Eric laid back on the bed grinning ear to ear ready to shout it from the roof top! He couldn't wait to start making phone calls and updates, but the first to hear the news were big brothers and sister! We teased them a little and told them we'd decided on Rueger...next I asked them how about Fric? Dad saved the baby and finally announced their newest brother's real name, Wyatt Foster...The kids were as excited as us to finally have a name for our baby! Next, Daddy made the call to Grandpa to share the news and then we let our whole world know on facebook....simultaneously of course!

Erica says....Hallelujah we have a name! Can't wait to meet Wyatt Foster Johnson in mid-December!

Eric says......We've chosen a name for our new boy finally!!!!! Ready?? Wyatt Foster!!!!!

Oh how they grow

Clayt

STATS:
18 months

23lbs (12%)
30½" tall (6%
49cm head circumference (80%)
Teeth- Top- 8, Bottom 5 and 3 more coming in!
Clothing size 12-18months
Shoe Size 4

In the past couple of months he has decided to start taking a paci (I have a feeling its a "want to be like "Jojo thing"as she was the only paci taker in the house, but it seems that the trend has caught on and even Corban asks for one on occasion. Its more of a toy than anything, but its funny to see them picking it up at such late ages. He is still a thumb-sucker most of the time, and the paci's are confined to the beds, but if they find one that somehow escaped they will toddle around with it as long as they can get away with it!

He's a diaper escape artist...gotta have a one piece snap up outfit on if we even want to think about waking up to a diapered baby! He may have to settle for early potty training...maybe when Josie is ready...which is going to be in the near future I suspect. If I am diligent I can usually take him to the potty to "catch" his poops...but most of the time I'm not quite enough on the ball!

He is a climber....he loves to climb over the end of the couch and started climbing out of his bed just after his first birthday. Sometimes we find that he has shacked up in Corban's crib for a play fest at sleep time.

Looks like we have a TALKER...since about 15 months old Clayt has been trying to repeat what we say, and we've actually understood several phrases! He loves to say YES! It is so sweet, although you can't always count on him to mean yes, just because he says it, but it beats hearing NO, NO, NO all day! (even though he does say it on occasion...actually he prefers Nu-Uh.) He's also trying to learn how to count....and occasionally gets a few numbers in a row! Some of his regular vocabulary...Mama, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie, Jo-Jo, Please, Thank You, Hi, Bye-Bye, More, Eat, Bite, Cracker, Milk, Nana (banana), Drink, Up, Sit, Ball, Book, Beads, Phone, Toot, Bonk, Oh-man, Whoa, Nose, Eyes, Ear, Teeth, Outside, Night-Night, Paci, and Bumbo (his chair to eat in, although..corban sits in the "actual" bumbo chair, he calls his highchair the same as what we call brother's seat :) He can say the other kids names, but doesn't use them much on his own. Although, he will repeat pretty much anything we ask him to say!

Favorite toy...Balls! He LOVES to throw things...and boy does he have an arm for it. We are working on only throwing balls...soft ones. Definitely a work in progress!

He recently has fallen in love with the magnadoodle and carries around everywhere, loves to stop and "r" (I think he's trying to say color) with us then clear the screen and draw some more....and more and more!

He also has a love for NOT sleeping on a mattress. He used to have a foam insert in his bed but we kept finding him underneath it, so we took it out...well, now he tends to fold up the packNplay mattress and sleep in the "hammock" of the unsupported bottom...maybe we should get him a hammock?

He loves to spin in circles and tip toe run around the house...the tip toe run is something new, he is not a regular tip toe-er, but just does it for fun, it makes him laugh when he does it! Boy are those short little legs fast...its so funny to watch him run, but we have to be careful because if we watch very long he will be completely out of sight!

A few weeks ago, he dropped his morning nap and temporarily revamped all of the littles schedule...now they nap from 12:00-3:30....we are still working on the schedule for the rest of the day...I figure as soon as we get it down pat the new baby will arrive!

Josie

Okay, she's my niece, not "officially" ours, but I claim her. She spends 4 days a week with us and is a joy to have. It's nice to have some extra girl power over here! Her 2nd birthday is right around the corner, 4 days away!

Jojo makes sure to keep close tabs on Clayt and Clayt often asks for her when she isn't here...they play very well together when the tattle-tale bug isn't biting....but I just blame that on her being the oldest girl child...and being almost 2! I hear often that she tries to tattle on her daddy as well.

She calls me "Auntie" and not Mama anymore, and she refers to Eric as her "Unkie" which puts a smile on our face every time! Now to get Clayt back to calling me Mama. He occasionally calls me Auntie now...must be confusing to live in a house with so many names for different people!

She loves to count...and can count 1-15 in English and 1-10 in Spanish and sings a wonderful jumbled rendition of the ABC's so cute! She's ready for kindergarten and hasn't even celebrated her 2nd birthday!

She also loves to play with dolls and stuffed animals. She is gonna be one top notch mama practicing this early...breastfeeding, diaper changes, using the nasal aspirator and even sets up "blanket-time" for them...so sweet!

Corban
STATS
33 months
28lbs (19%)
36 1/4" tall (29%)
47cm head circumference (6%)
Clothing size 2T
Shoe size 6

Teeth- a whole mouthful, all caught up has all 4 2year molars...probably has for a while now! Thankfully teething is over for this one....it wasn't easy for him..he is a bit like his Daddy and reacts with anger to pain, and it took us a while to figure out what in the world was wrong with our boy's attitude! Now that we have it figured out...it is over for the most part!

He has been fully potty-trained for a couple of months now, even staying dry at bedtime! But just this week, he woke up from his nap saying he pee-pee'd. Eric checked him and he was dry up front...Corban says no..."pee-pee in my bum"...and sure enough, our poor little one had a bit of diarrhea. He was just so pitifully cute sitting on the potty trying to figure out why he was peeing out his bum.

Corban still loves his blue blanket that Aunt Deb crocheted him and his "woof-woof" stuffed animal rottie that daddy picked out. But he doesn't like real dogs or cats AT ALL...thanks to a stroller ride this summer where a dog barked at us as we walked along the side walk of "his" fence. For a while Corban would get very upset if he even heard a Dog barking, so our stroller rides have been put on hold. We did recently have a new neighbor move in next door and they have a dog, so he's been doing better with the barking...thank goodness being stuck indoors in this beautiful October weather we have had would be terrible! But then there's the cow...he hates the Cow. It is an ice cream truck that Moo's...and for some reason it scares him silly. He usually hears it at bedtime, since they go down at 7:30 and it is still light out. I'm about ready to pay off the ice cream driver to not come down our street!

He loves to drive his ride-on train "to work" otherwise known as the front door, then he comes back and announces "I'm home" we play this game back and forth all the time and it's so fun to see his face light up when he returns!

Daddy clone...Corban can't stand to be messy, and always asking for a cloth or a napkin, a fork (to eat a muffin???) while eating. He likes to have things certain ways and always needs a bowl or plate for his snack. So much for sparing extra dishes with this boy!

Loves to "Suggle" mama...and is just a pretty good snuggler altogether. Mornings are fun when the babies pile into bed with us...it doesn't usually last very long, but I take any extra time to wake up that I can!

Libby
STATS
9 years 5 months old
4'7 1/2" tall
84 lbs
Clothing Size 10-12
Shoe Size 4

My sleeping beauty who loves to take naps...actually she looks more like snow white with a beautiful olive complexion. See....



We celebrated her birthday in May with a slumber party. 4 friends came over after our Last Day of school field trip to Woolaroc Museum. Jordan C., Mandy S., Eiley C. and Danielle F. went with us to the Museum and came home with us afterward. We had beef, chicken and shrimp and veggie Kabobs for dinner, and watched a Tinkerbell movie with popcorn and candies. :) The girls all got along well, and even didn't stay up TOO late! In the morning we had a big breakfast of scrambled eggs and Apple Enchiladas with homemade whipped cream. It was such fun to have a table full of GIRLS at this boy dominated household...even dad agreed! Next we prepared for the "party" and made 2 batches of brownies...one with Reeces peanut butter cups and one with crumbled heath bars. After a morning of playtime, the girls' families and our relatives all joined us for presents and the yummy desserts!

This summer, Libby and I had a little extra girl time with the boys off at Ground Crew Monday-Thursday. It was an adventure with just us and 3 babies, but we made it through and had a great time! Each week I plannrf a "long" outing and a "short" outing to meet up with friends. We made a few trips to the Zoo, Incredible Pizza, had her friend Lilly over, and hit the sprinkler park pretty much each week for some water play and a picnic.

Hopper collector...Libby found a love for collecting grasshoppers this summer. She has a small netted cage to keep them in and she makes sure to get them fresh grass, and even let them go after a few days. The funny thing is that the babies have all joined in with her. It is so cute to see them pulling grass to add to the cage! Although, Corban is convinced that a mosquito bite that he got was from a "hopper" we've tried telling him repeatedly that "hoppers" don't bite...but I don't think he believes us!

Libby helps around the house by being the Breakfast helper, Straitens the living room and vacuums after the babies go down for naps. She's starting to help Perry a bit with the kitchen clean up as well and does her own laundry.

Libby is on the Guts Kids Praise and Worship Team again this year. They learn songs with dance motions and get to be up on stage and help lead worship time.

Parker
STATS
11years and 355days old
4'8 3/4" tall
73lbs
Clothing Size 10-12
Shoe Size 6

This summer he moved up to JV class at church and attended Ground Crew and went to JV Camp with Perry for the first summer. He had a great time!

Parker helps around the house by being on Bathroom duty each week and is the daily lunch helper this year...he's been a great help in the kitchen preparing lunch and with clean up in the kitchen and dining area. Parker also does his own laundry!

What does Parker like to do...Play, Play and Play some more! He can have fun just running around outside, playing with plastic cowboys and indians or entertaining the babies. He really is such a great helper.

He has taken an interest in drawing has done some very nice work recently. He has a learn to draw book that he is learning from. He is also enjoying reading more for fun as well.

Parker's Birthday is just around the corner, we have the party with our family planned for Monday November 15th....just 9 days away!

Perry

13y and 6 months
5'6 1/2
97lbs
Clothing Size 14
Shoe Size 8

We have a TEENAGER in the house! Perry turned 13 in June. He celebrated the same as last year...taking cookie cakes so share with the kids at Ground Crew (a summer program for kids 6th-9th grade at our church).

Perry started serving in the "Walkers" (15m-2 1/2year old) class at church with me this year. He is such a great help and looks forward to serving every other week. This summer since my belly is starting to get in the way, I switched over to the nursery and Perry has stayed on in the Walkers room.

We had a family birthday party at the house and then everyone joined us at our favorite Mexican Restaurant, Mr. Mambo's, for lunch.

The past few months it seems that he grows taller every few weeks...as of today he currently stands 5'6 1/2...he passed me up earlier this summer and it looks as if he's now passed up Eric as well!

This summer Perry took on the task of "lawn mower" and kept the yard cut every week for us. It was such a blessing since Dad and fresh cut grass do not get along all that well. He's also my most thorough Kitchen helper. His daily task is to unload and load the dishwasher and when we have our "home blessing day" he cleans the kitchen from top to bottom! He also does his own laundry.

This year he was able to participate in the Nightmare outreach at our church. He helped behind the scenes as a "tech" and helped with the special effects...turning on the snow and dropping the light post in the car wreck room.

Perry and Clayt are still joined at the hip...Perry is such a great helper with him! I remember him saying how he wished Clayt was "his". I have overheard Perry talking about the great times they will have when he has his own place...wow! That was a scary thought, but I suppose when Perry is 25; Clayt will be 15....it will be awesome to see how their relationship continues to grow!

What We've been up to the past few months

October

WOW! Tomorrow is the final day of October...well, by the time I finish this post it may already be November, Where has the time gone?

The coughing epidemic of 2010 hit the household at the end of August and everyone got about a 3 week turn. Eric was the last to be hit ended up spending the past two weeks (so far) at home with us...recovering from a respiratory infection that turned to pneumonia. For the final hurrah the kids each graced us with "the 6 days of puking" One after the other each one taking a one day turn (which is much better than all at once, especially since we only have one bathroom)! We plan to start the new month in health and keep it that way! Okay, Okay..even with all that sickness, we still had some wonderful times throughout the month...the devil may try to slow us down but he will never knock us out!

At the beginning of the month Grandma and Crappaw took all of us and Aunt Sara, Uncle Will and Josie for a day out at the Woolaroc Museum. It was such a beautiful day and we really had a nice time. We went on a little one mile hike...Clayt walked the whole way and wanted to do it all by himself! We had a great picnic lunch and the kids played on the playground and visited the small petting zoo...and I think there was a speed tour through the museum Crappaw guiding so you can only imagine if you know him! I, on the other hand, held down the picnic blanket and took a little rest.


A few weeks later we met Aunt Sara, Grandma and Josie out at the pumpkin patch and picked out punkins to carve and played in all the various set ups they had for the little ones. Clayt had a blast watching the flags flap in the wind, he thought that was the best thing ever! Who needs Jupiter jumps anyway?




We had a punkin carving "meet and greet" party with Grandma and Crappaw's new neighbors. They also have 5 kids, we got to meet 3 of them at the party Emily 12, Jacob, 10 and Andrew 6, . Libby got some nice girl talk time in with Emily...who let her know that no matter if you have brothers or sisters that they WILL be annoying sometimes...the wisdom of a 12 year old :)




And we closed out the month with a Halloween Costume Party at Grandma's house since the big kids will be trick or treating with their dad this year...We had our traditional chili dinner that we usually have the night of Halloween and Grandma planned a Mummy Wrap game which everyone enjoyed, especially the babies who played in the heaps of ripped up toilet paper after the game was over. Unfortunately, Perry and Parker were unable to make it to the party because they were still feeling kinda puny and we didn't want to pass the virus along to anyone else, so they stayed home with Dad and watched the Great Pumpkin.


Libby the Candy Corn Witch, Josie the bat, Clayt wearing the "bee" costume that Perry wore at 16months...although Daddy deemed him a "yellow jacket" and *not* a bee, and Corban is wearing the clown costume that Mama wore when she was 2! For Trick Or Treating Parker dressed up as Mario Brother and Perry wore his Ostrich Rider costume from last year
Libby and I teamed up to wrap Aunt Regina up as a mummy...we came in as the runner up!

Trick-or-Treat night we stayed home and passed out candy for the first time...I think EVER! Corban and Clayt had fun running up to the door and helping mama pass out treats...they also enjoyed having a treat (watermelon sucker) of their own!

September

Eric and I went on a weekend getaway to celebrate our 4th anniversary a little early since our newest addition is due date is a little close to the actual date. We visited Hot Springs Arkansas and stayed at a neat little place called Remember When. We rented the "Romantic Creek" cabin for 2 nights and we were the very first guests! Eric treated me to a pedicure and ice cream and maple nut fudge...yum! We had a great time walking the streets of Bath House Row, and dined at the lovely Belle Arti Italian Ristorante (yes it was that fancy...and I had an amazing Spinach and Strawberry Salad with walnuts and blue cheese crumbles (I don't think I even like blue cheese, but it was incredible!) We also enjoyed having some just us down time and did a little reading while we were away...we picked up a book from the bedside table "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus by John Gray...it is just crazy how different men and women really are from one another, but how much alike we are with our own genders! While we were away, the older kids took a trip to Montana with their dad for his wedding and a quick drive through Yellowstone on the way home with their Grammie. The baby boys stayed at Grandma Douglass' house and they had a great time (and even Grandma did too)!

AUGUST

First family vacation at Green Leaf State Park. We rented a cabin , but in the 100°+ temps the AC couldn't keep up! I guess the end of August is not the best time to go camping...even in a CABIN! We still had a good time. We prepared meals each day and hung out in the cabin during naptime. The kids did some reading. Dad brought his guitar and played for us in the evening. We spent a little time wading in the water and playing at the playground. Parker was still not over his cough (the beginning of cough fest 2010)..so we headed home early to visit the pediatrician before the weekend began.

Even with all this pink we are still TEAM BLUE!

7 weeks, 15 weeks, 21 weeks and 24 weeks...evidently the color of your maternity clothes does not help predict the gender of the baby...or maybe I should have just chose Purple...it worked the first time!

Well, even though at 10 weeks along we tried out the very cool intelligender test...which tests your urine for the gender of your baby...and the results came in G.I.R.L....but the reviews were sketchy and so it was more of a "just for fun" test. But still, very encouraging....as skeptical as I tried to be!

I don't know HOW I forgot how foggy and unclear everyone's ultrasound pictures always were when I'd see them...compared to the amazing technology that my previous OB's machine's had....but alas, I got excited and payed attention to the pricing plans compared to the number of visits allotted, I scheduled with a friend at a local "ultrasound studio" and ended up a little disappointed with the quality of our first 3 visits....the forth visit ended up producing decent results, thankfully!

Our first visit was an early one, just for a peek at our little bean. We went in at 8 weeks and saw the beating heart and a bouncing little bean of a baby.

I spent all of the early pregnancy playing the baby GIRL name game. I chatted with a couple of my online friends...since Eric wouldn't indulge me much until we knew the gender for sure. I figured I could at least enjoy playing it while it lasted. Oh what fun I had playing "NO BOYS ALLOWED"!

So Eric and I showed up for our 17 week ultrasound..which I ended up being only a 16 weeks along, I suppose I got a little ahead of myself...Well, that didn't seem to matter because our proud little bean showed HIS stuff off nice and clear...I did a pretty good job holding it together, but with every reassurance from my sweetie who was trying so hard to comfort me, I found myself getting weaker and weaker and finally burst into tears when the tech left the room for a phone call. When she returned, I could not pull it together and dry it up no matter how hard I tried...and she so sweetly reminded me that this early the parts can be rather swollen, and we'd need to double check next time we came around. Yea, I've seen boy parts 4 times before, and what we saw was pretty clear. Our FIFTH BOY was on his way!

The ride home was awful, Eric in all his proud papa-ness...couldn't wait to share the news and was just BEAMING...while I tried to muffle my tears and not steal away his joy while he made the calls (which I failed miserably at). I was so angry at myself for feeling SO disappointed. Trying to figure out how I could turn it all off and go announce the great news to my mom who stayed home with the kids....just made it all the worse! We sat in the driveway for a while and I Eric even offered to take ME out for ice cream (I had threatened that I would need it, besides, it had worked for Libby last time around...but I didn't even want any; Not even my favorite Braum's single dip, brownie, hot fudge sundae with nuts and no cherry!

Then I had to get the courage up to face the embarrassment of knowing there's no way to cover up the bawling your eyes out look on my face and come in with a smile and cheerfully announce the news to my mom...and after that I had to face telling LIBBY! I knew she was probably even more hopeful for a sister! She, by the way, took the news so much better than mama...she just threw her head back and said "oh! another one!" (or something to that effect, I am after all a mommy of 5 with preggo brain, trying to recall the exact phrase said over 17 weeks ago...but I"m pretty sure that was it) We didn't even have to take her out for ice cream, what a trooper.

Well, so the name game began...and I don't think I could fathom the enormity of the list of names we would be vetoing...I think I could write a book about it! We have been at it for 17 weeks and the only name we have for this baby is ....Johnson.

I never understood not having a name picked out in stone when the baby arrived, or waiting to see the baby to give them a name...well, looks like I may be getting a lesson on it. I've resolved it might just be they way it is going to happen for this little baby boy. I'm thankful for a homebirth knowing that we won't be pressured to pick a name during a short 2 day hospital stay. At this point I'm just hoping that we can figure it out before the beginning of 2011!

Well, our 33 week ultrasound we were joined by the family...the kids, my mom and dad, Jeanette, Regina and the girls all piled into the ultrasound room. It was verified for the 3rd time that there were, indeed, boy parts. I do admit that I started to think that just maybe the first 2 ultrasounds were wrong since we were having such a hard time with this baby naming stuff. I almost convinced myself that just maybe it was a girl and that was why we just couldn't decide. Oh well, so much for a mama's intuition, when it comes to baby's gender, evidently I have NONE! We did, get some great pictures though! He already has chubby little cheeks and had fun playing with his foot and showing off his thumb sucking skills, what a cutie!




Just this week, I finally wrote in to a baby name blog to get some brainstorming help...thinking, that just maybe with a gathering of baby naming enthusiasts they could possibly come up with a list of ideas that I hadn't thought of. Well...so far, no luck...not even anything worth mentioning! At the top of the bad name ideas...was Benedict and Geoffrey, how ironic! It was even the same person who mentioned both names, in 2 different comments! In my response I made sure to include Robert and Gregory as other related names that would be vetoed on the account of my ex-husband. So much for that great idea!

So here we are, 33 weeks pregnant with a giant "are you ready to pop yet" belly to show for it, enjoying the most comfortable pregnancy yet, thank you to seeing our new chiropractor 3 times a week for the past 10 weeks. I can still stand up and get dressed and sleep comfortably...even if changing position is a bit of a struggle, either way, both instances are an amazing feat this far along in a 6th pregnancy...but I expect to enjoy it to the end!

Well, its that time of the year again...I'm PREGNANT!

For the third consecutive year in a row we will be adding a new addition to our family! It worked out that we have had a baby born each year: Jan 2008, April 2009 and our newest addition due mid December 2010. Even though the babies will still be rather close in age, it feels like its been a while since I was pregnant last. Clayt is still nursing and I plan to continue until he's ready to wean. My cycles were a little different this time around. They did not start back up as early and then when I have had them they have been 5- 15 days longer than normal. I wasn't really sure what was going on, so we tested weekly after day 28 until my period would show up. We kinda got into the routine of just "ruling out" pregnancy with the tests rather than being super hopeful each time. So this last test taking time...I saw Eric do a double take just after he'd dropped in the sample...and heard a WOW...the unbelief sort of Wow, if you know what I mean. The test line showed up at the same time as the control line and was darker than the control, no waiting and no doubts about it! It took us both a little by surprise, but it is the best surprise EVER!

We got a little more technical with telling the kids this time around and had them do a little "science" experiment. We had to go over the details really quick since Aunt Sara was on her way up to the door and we wanted the kids to find out first. So I quickly explained that the test was checking the fluid for a certain hormone. We talked about what the control line and the test line meant and that is why there was a C and a T printed on the tester. Parker dropped 5 drops into the "well" and seconds later both lines showed up. I asked them what they thought it meant. Libby started grinning and jumping up and down, Perry, started nodding his head and said "I know what that means" in a grown up understanding tone....Parker...we'll he didn't have a clue, lol, so Libby said, we're having a baby! Just as all this was going on Sara walked through the door and peeked on the table and figured out the news on her own ;)

We made a few phone calls and then updated everyone else on Facebook, I'd been waiting ALL DAY to break the news! We've had such a positive and encouraging response, which is nice to hear!

Erica says: there's gonna be another Johnson around December 2010....hopefully a female version!

Eric says: Whelp, Shwew! Looks like the Johnson's are taking over the world, ERICA'S PREGNANT AGAIN!

Riding the Undertow! WHEEEE!

We'll I seem to be one of those people who are only happy when they are going full steam ahead and fully emerged in the things that interest them. I've managed to begin a new venture, just a little further down the path into natural remedies. When taking care of my family and the people I love lines up with the Word of God, I have a really hard time not diving in head first! I think it must be the proper use of the addictive nature God gave me! I love digging into His word and learning to live the way He wants me to!

In the past month I've spent my time acquiring a miniature library of books, Young Living essential oils, a massage table and taken 40 hours of Training learning about the Healing Oils of the Bible, Vitaflex, Emotional Release and the Raindrop Technique, and last but not least Chemistry...Yes...a 5 hour crash course in Chemistry....soon to be reviewed over the next year. Can you say WOOSH!

I think the most convincing points for me are:

God gave Moses a special blend of oils and herbs to use for anointing in Exodus. God says leaves are for medicine/healing (Ezekiel 47:12). He instructs us under the new covenant in James 5:14 to Go to the elders of the church to be anointed with oil and the prayer of faith to save the sick, confessing our sins to one another so that we may be healed. Now, the bible isn't an Anointing with Oils instruction manual....so it doesn't go in to great detail about how they were used, but...If you dig a little, you will find some fascinating stuff that lines up with what science is confirming (Imagine that!) Also, remember the people in the times of the bible knew the practice of anointing and oils like we know medicine chests and doctor appointments.

I've heard many Christians point out that God tells us to Fear Not...365 times in the Bible....it must be important if He reminds us so often. We'll when it comes to oils and ointments, they are mentioned over 600 times!

We'll it gets a little more interesting in Galatians 5. Paul gives us a nice list of the "obvious" works of the flesh. Our problem, we aren't so keen on his definitions. Everyone has an idea of what sorcery and witchcraft is...yet Paul, when he wrote it in Greek, said: Pharmakeia. Sounds familiar huh? Yes, it means all those witch-y type things, but the Strong's Concordance says first of all that it is the "use and administration of drugs"- OUCH.

Now, lets not freak out and flush all the tylenol in your cupboard and refuse medical advice....just like everything else in the word, it has to be tempered with wisdom and understanding. Drugs do not Heal...they can not heal because they are a counterfeit of nature. They work by blocking messages and allow the body to not realize there's a problem. When I understand how drugs work, I can see why Paul lists them as a work of the flesh. They are a temporary quick-"fix" as long as you can survive the side effects! God ordained things from nature to help heal us, along with laying on of hands but most of all faith in Him...Jehovah-Rapha...Our God who heals us!


During my first experience with Young Living essential oils we saw results and reactions with just a small group of 4 people. Each person had experiences and they varied in several area from emotional, hormonal to physical and spiritual. The more people I meet, the more testimonies I hear and the more encouraged I am.

So, If you are interested I need about 10 generous people to help me out to complete my training...all you gotta do is be willing to give me a couple hours to "treat" you to an application of essential oils on the back and feet. OH....That is "treat" as in FREE, not as in "medical treatment" ...gotta be clear on that!

And of course I have to include the "disclaimer" that seems to come along with every type of natural "help": Statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug
Administration. Products and/or techniques mentioned are not intended to
diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. The information provided here
is for educational purposes only and is not intended as diagnosis,
treatment, or prescription for any disease. The decision to use, or not to
use, any of this information is the sole responsibility of the reader.

Leave me a comment or Facebook me if you are interested! :)

Potty time ALREADY?!

Last Tuesday, Corban was a little bored, so I decided some play-time in the tub sounded like fun....mostly because I get a little bit of time to read while he plays! It is one of Corban's favorite things to do. As soon as he hears the tub water come on---- from anywhere in the house, I might add.....there's hardly escaping another bath time! I will for sure be experiencing I very loud protest for a BAAAAAAAAATH, BAAAAAAAAAATH!

Anyway...after he had enough of playing in the water and let it all out of the tub, mama wasn't quite done with her reading so I let him play in the bath room. We'll he picked up the "little-potty" brought it to the middle of the bathroom, sat down and peed in it. Totally figured it out on his own, and was having a fun! I decided to run and get him a "treat" some Sun-drops I picked up at whole foods (organic M&M like candies) Like they are much healthier, NOT! But I felt a little better about giving them and It was only ONE at a time. We'll day one went great...every time I took him to the potty he was able to go and even POOPED in there! Day two...went pretty good, only a few accidents...and by Day 3...we'll my treat "reward" backfired and started...a love for TREEEEEEEEEAT, rather than a love for going potty! He kept requesting TREEEEEEEEAT, and wasn't comprehending the "go to the potty first" rule! So, mama diapered him back up and decided to not worry about it...and FORGET the treats!

The next day, I decided that if he goes on the potty..... great! but I wasn't gonna take him every 30-45 minutes throughout the day. He actually took his diaper off on his own and sat on the potty and went! So, I can see that he's understanding some of it, but we haven't focused on it so much. After he goes, he helps me flush it down the potty, he says bye bye and CLOSES the lid then we go on our way. If we're gonna be home and he wants to put on some underwear...I let him choose a diaper or undies. So far he's continued to go on the potty when I take him.... without fits, and not screaming for TREEEEEEEEEEEATS! whew!

Who knew, a 26 month old boy would be ready for the potty without a lot of coaxing! Not me!

Skinning Shins

So, if you haven't been reading the comments on my face book, I'm pretty sure that you probably have the wrong idea about this post based on the title of the message. No one has fallen down and scraped up their precious shins.

So this week's project is to make homemade beef stock. A few weeks ago, I checked the store, and guess what...they don't sell beef part ingredients for making stock. We'll, I just so happened to get to know a new wonderful family at church and her hubby is a butcher, and we found out a few months later that her brother is Baker, although he is not *a* Baker, that's just his last name. For those of you who don't know "Baker" his name is Eric Baker, and he and my hubby have been buddies for quite a while. Obviously, if you know me and my hubby...they both share the same first name which is why we just call him Baker. We had our bonfire wedding in his backyard.

Hu-mongo thanks to our friends, we were able to obtain all of the *ingredients* even at the perfect price! So, Saturday our friends delivered the marrow and neck bones, but the cow shins...or whatever cow legs are called from the "knee" down, would have to wait until Monday. To my surprise the shins arrived...all 21.5lbs of them arrived with fur, WOW...fur makes it a bit more real.

I knew for sure I'd need some back up. So, my other Amish-wannabe friend (note the hyphen to differentiate that she most definitely is my friend and the wannabe links to the other noun in that phrase) and I got together this morning and embarked on a whole new experience for making beef stock. We did reminisce about how easy it was to just measure out at teaspoon of Wyler's bullion granules. But this way, is the healthful way.....you can can learn why here: beautiful broth. We know it will be worth all the effort. Although, admittedly we knew nothing of how to accomplish skinning shins, but we decided that its much easier to get started when you have a friend there that is just as clueless as you.

So, we spread the table with paper sacks and tied on our aprons and got started. About 2/3rds of the way through our project my friend reminded me that the book did say that the hooves were *optional. We laughed about that and decided we would finish skinning 3 of the shins and to just chop the hoof off the 4th one. We did take a few moments to show the kids how the ligaments worked and printed off some information about the anatomy of the hoof, us homeschooling mama's are always looking for ways to incorporate school into our daily life.

Next we obtained permission to use the hack-saw, but before we got started my gracious hubby offered to do the hoof removal. I have to say that was a bit of a relief. Today was prep day, tomorrow we'll start the stock.

The thought of boiling calves hooves isn't nearly as bad after going through the process of skinning them first. Plus, I learned what to ask the butcher for next time....So much for my Amish training.

Unfortunately my Encyclopedia of Country Living book arrived on the front porch this evening. It as a whole chapter dedicated to raising cows and butchering them.

Well my awesomely wonderful husband helped us with the hooves. I sat idly by and read through my new book to see if I could come up with some helpful info. He tried out a few different saws and it was quite entertaining watching him. He decided to go out to his wood-shop and build a "shin-stabilizer". (I think he just wanted an excuse to build something with his new dado set that arrived in the shipment with my book). Next he attached the hoof to the stabilizer by drilling a screw through it, and used 2 clamps to secure it to the table so he could hack-saw through the first hoof section. He decided to try out the sawzall to cut through the second. So very un-Amish like, but it worked well. Round 2: on to separating the joints on the skinned shins....and after a bit of practice he was able to get the 3rd one apart in 2-minutes and 40-seconds...yes, we timed him just to see how good he was! I'd say that's good!

maple-coconut-chocolate-peanut-butter SQUARES

We'll, first on my list of recipes to try this week was something simple. Or well...maybe I just didn't prepare anything and this one didn't take any advanced prep. It would have been super easy to mix together if I had not chosen the "mini" chopper blade in the food processor with the large bowl, it took dumping in almost all the ingredients and them not mixing one bit...after of couse thinking why in the WORLD would the recipe say to use the food processor, it is totally NOT working. I took it apart and realized my mistake. Whoops!

So, after starting the recipe, I realized that I totally did not have the required 1½ cups of honey for this recipe...so I used maple syrup...only $7.56 worth...it is B grade so it does have a little more nutrition in it!


Providing that you have your area cleared off and all your supplies and proper appliance parts ready this is a really easy recipe. I was thinking I could use it as a good finger food/snack for Corban, but its a bit to dessert-ish for everyday.  So I won't be able to use it like I wanted to. Oh well, live and learn and move on to the next recipe.

It did make a rather large batch. We now have enough for toddler size servings for 12 weeks if he ate a piece every day, which we will NOT be doing. I think it could easily last 4-6months...if I weren't feeding 2-3 little ones.

Recipe source: Really Raw Honey Balls I prefer using a different name...share any ideas, because my title version is a bit long.

Party Time

We'll, hot air balloon themed "party things" don't seem to exist. It probably saved us lots of money in the long run. Daddy used some scrap melamine to make a "dry erasable" hot air balloon. It worked perfectly for table decor, and easy to personalize to boot! The left over plates will be easy to use for the next boy birthday, June will be here before I know it and I will be a mama to a TEENAGER. Oh wow!...actually, mommy brain moment...the next birthday will be Daddy, then 9 days later Clayt turns ONE!

We'll after our previous birthday candle fiasco...we made sure to be extra careful and had no mishaps with the fire! It only took Corban a couple of practice "blows" to blow the candles out (he even got both candles at the same time!) He was cheering for himself after each attempt, it was very cute :) But then everything they do is...we'll most things!




I made the traditional Chocolate Mayonnaise Birthday Cake...I did my best to sneak in a little "health" in there but everybody noticed! I think I would have been okay if I hadn't tried to use half whole wheat flour! But for sure, the extra 1½ cups of sugar wasn't missed at all. Live and Learn, and don't mess with the Mayo-cake flour! (I have a few new ideas for the next go around! *snicker*

Having recent practice opening presents at Christmas...Corban was a PRO this year!



He received a nice variety of Things this year: clothes, Arbonne bath-wash, stacking toys, a nice bit of cash-ola and BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS! which we LOVE!!

Grandma Johnson even found a book with Hot air balloons!

He had a couple of helpers... Josie was the tissue paper queen, pulling them out of the sack magician style, it was so cute, she even showed off the "goods" I suspect Clayt was looking for a tag to taste...



We had a great party with our family, so glad everyone was able to make it over!

Birthday Boy!

We'll our baby boy is officially 2 years old! We celebrated his actual birthday with his first "birthday dinner" We selected "to the best of our knowledge" his favorites...milk, meat & potatoes...there's no denying it, he is his father's son! You will notice a little green on his plate, because I insisted we have a veggie to round out the meal.

The Official Menu:
Grilled Chicken Breast
Onion Roasted Potatoes- Daddy style
Green beans with homemade raw butter
Goat milk for Corban, Raw whole Cow's milk for Everyone Else

We sang to Corban and let the birthday boy have a "cup cake" so he could practice blowing out his birthday candles. We nearly had a "AFV" moment; if only we had been video taping...but we weren't. Evidently mommy..or was it daddy? Whoever it was, needs to practice not crumbling apart the cupcake and dumping lighted candles on the boy. Luckily, the candle was quickly extinguished by Daddies fingers and nothing even caught on fire!

Corban did however enjoy his "cup cake" Mommy found a special recipe for Grain-free Brownies. I think they will make a great addition to our breakfast rotation. They are made out of black beans, eggs, coconut oil and honey. For the party, I whipped up some raw cream with a little stevia and "frosted" them.

super fast

Well, the Daniel fast is over! 21 days of no dairy, refined grains, processed foods, meat or desserts and as far as beverages go I only drank water the entire time. And boy do I feel great!

I let my food nazi-ism slide the last week. We ate some wonderfully de-lish tortilla soup...which I had to get the recipe. It ended up being way beyond my personal guidelines....I just couldn't wrap my brain around dry ranch dip being Daniel fast friendly, and ultimately it is so full of preservatives I think I'd rather come up with a wholesome replacement in the future.... so I skipped that ingredient and just turned the other cheek as I poured in the ranch beans with its "less than 2%" banned ingredient content...and oh yes, the whole wheat tortillas with all those preservatives are definitely a no, but we've managed to almost finish off the 3rd package in less than a week. I had migraine headaches every night I ate the stuff though. hmm, chemicals I imagine. Can't wait on working to reinvent this recipe in a nourishing traditions way and add it to our food menu...in the future...the distant future since we've eaten it about 6 times in the past 10 days and still have leftovers in the fridge. I did find out that its pretty good after being put in the blender and used as burrito filling.

Physically speaking we lost weight (those hard to get rid of, last 8 pounds for me and Eric lost 15 pounds....though he says "I didn't loose weight; I gained health" ), we broke food addictions (chemicals and sugar) and we've seemed to encounter a natural portion control in our eating habits IF we choose pay attention to our bodies and not focusing on the food in our mouth....let me tell you it is so much harder with my favorites.

I broke the fast about 15 minutes after PB called it done...I tested a few crumbs from Corban's birthday brownie cupcakes. It is a new recipe that is friendly to Corban's gluten and dairy free diet. I'll share the recipe AFTER everyone has taste-tested them tomorrow. Eric brought home my favorite..Mr. Mambo's cheese enchilada's. Oh it was hard to not just gobble it all down, but I focused on eating it slow and saved half of my enchiladas for another day. After the first few bites I noticed an odd feeling in my gut, but dismissed it. But 2 hours later my tummy had it's own ideas about the food and afforded me some quiet reading time you know where. I checked out my Nourishing Traditions cookbook and reconfirmed in my mind WHY I need to make changes in our dietary lifestyle.

The fast was the easy part. Holding ourselves to our own standard (and finding a new standard) is a whole new ballgame. But I've been preparing for this day and all last week was quite productive in the kitchen, so I feel at least I'm getting a good start!

We tried out soaking pecans, walnuts and pumpkin seeds and making "crispy nuts" that were very good and nutritionally superior to raw nuts and seeds. We also tried soaking brown rice over night and it was much fluffier, the kids didn't even notice that it was brown rice. I bought a sprouting lid for my mason jars so I can try soaking and sprouting our legumes and other whole grains, but it may be a little while before we introduce them back into our diet...we consumed about 10lbs of beans the past 3 weeks!

Tuesday, I made some garlic-lemonade for the boys who haven't been feeling so great. The dragon breath and burps leave little to be desired, but it seems to really help with the symptoms.

We got our Dairy delivery, raw whole milk, raw cream and cheese on Wednesday from a great friend who let us "hitch-hike" in on her co-op order. THANK YOU!!!!

Thursday, Parker and Perry helped me make a 10 day supply of butter. It's been a while since I last made it, so hopefully it won't take an hour and a half on the next go around! We made it in two batches, as I'm not sure how much is too much for the mixer...maybe next go around I"ll whip up the butter in separate batches, then "clean" it all together as that seems to be the most time consuming part. We made 38 ounces of butter and got 24 ounces of buttermilk out of 4 pints of cream...I think those are decent results. I have one pint of cream that I'm saving to make whipped cream for Corban's birthday cupcakes. Next dairy run, I plan to try making cream cheese and whey The whey will be used to make lots of lacto-fermented vegetables and condiments which provide essential nutrients for proper digestion.

Wednesday, we got our first shipment of coconut oil. I couldn't help but grin at the thought of asking Eric to open it for us as I struggled to lug the 5 gallon bucket through the living room and heft it up on the kitchen table. The kids were as excited as me and wanted to test it out by the spoonful....which of course we did as soon as dad got the lid off for us! He detests the stuff, but I sneak it in when I can. It's tricky.

I made a gallon of yogurt on Friday and a half-gallon of Goat Yogurt for Corban on Saturday. It is amazing to me how much switching to goat dairy HELPS him! With in 5 hours of consuming the milk things start changing for the better. I need to get better at regularly making trips to the Goat farm. I really have no excuse considering its just over 1 mile from the house.

We already use vinegar and water for most of our cleaning, and make our own laundry detergent on occasion, so I decided to try my hand at making some body-care products starting with toothpaste and shampoo. I think both recipes will need some adjustments..but they work wonderfully well. I brushed my teeth before bed and they still felt "dentist-clean" this morning (I guess that is actually hygienist clean, huh?)

So, I guess we're still in progress in figuring the new and improved Johnson family diet. Mr and Mrs Johnson seem to have conflicting different ideas about what is important. So, for now we have our raw dairy, introducing lacto-fermentation and soaking grains, legumes, nuts and seeds and acquiring ingredients for making healthy beef stock. My other endeavor is finding true farm fresh eggs with chickens who are able to be truly free range...and seek out some of their own food, rather than walk outside onto a concrete slab for 5 minutes a day....

Perfect Day

Last weekend we were looking for ways to make changes in our life and Eric asked me what my perfect day looked like. I envisioned ....quiet time with God, quality time for my family, being presentable always, keeping the house "company ready", laundry caught up, keeping track of bills, meal planning, grocery shopping, cooking, training and educating the children, and don't forget the all important social networking and recording memories of our life, also known as blogging! Yes, I want to be Janelle English.

Well, I know she doesn't homeschool and not sure if she has a blog (it would for sure be a great one if she did)...but you get my drift if you know her! If you don't know her...she's witty and fun, but confronting if necessary, she loves talking about food, she knows how to organize (and keep it that way), but above all else she's living for God and a great teacher of His word. Ultimately I know God made me who I am for a reason, but I'm thankful for the excellent examples of Godly women, wives and mothers He's put into my life.

So, we sat down and wrote out all the things to try to do and put them into a daily schedule. Simple enough huh? It works amazingly perfect on paper!

The first day I woke up on time, got dressed, started laundry and prepared breakfast. Libby's first comment to me that morning...Are we going somewhere Mommy? hmm, I guess she noticed.

Everything went wonderfully well. Breakfast with my hunny, getting in the Word, fixed my hair, fed the babies...even clayt got some breakfast (as in solid food) for the first time in his 8 months existence, quality meals prepared for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as 2 snacks for the children, one on one time playing with the kids, helping with projects, bills paid, schedules updated, emails sent, training and correcting of children in a nice productive manner, baths and showers for everyone...and we only got to bed 30 minutes late!

So today is day2...and we got a little bit of a late start...must have had something to do with the fact that we got to bed "just a little bit" late. I was able to remove myself from my cozy warm bed in exchange for some somewhat comfy jeans an acceptable colored "black" fuzzy-chenille warm "jacket" with pom-pom ties, that ended up being removed this afternoon. My previous attire- Chenille "movie theatre" carpet jammie pants, and a zip up, ruffle edged 3/4 sleeve, multi-pastel striped fuzzy chenille robe (with pockets!) is going to have to wait until the weekend to come out of the closet again, farewell old friend, see you soon!

I went to the sub freezing garage to start a load of laundry, only to find a load of the children's laundry from yesterday still there. I re-ran the load and moved onto breakfast (which took about 2 times as long as I had planned). Although breakfast was served "on time" I spent my quiet time cooking. I left a bit of a mess from all the cooking and preparation of breakfast when I got distracted by babies needing to be changed and put down for their naps which lead me right into "cleaning time" of the day. Which I am happy to report: successfully completed! And just in time to start serving snacks and preparing lunch.... I spent a little bit of time in the word durning naptime, but more time than I should have working on other blog posts...while I helped Libby with her project and explained how I'm still doing it with her because I will STOP what I"m doing the second she needs help. I see where my self control is lacking. But everyone and their brother, mother and sister know that, if they know me. I"m working on it though!

Paul tells us in Philippians 3:12... Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

And that's just what I plan to do, keep working on my Perfect day schedule until it is attained. Strive to be better each day, learn from my mistakes and make changes. Celebrate the victories, no matter how big or small and above all enjoy and pay attention to the life that I'm living.

Now I best start getting ready for bed...I'm not saying how far behind I am already ;) But my hubby is JUST now on his way home...7 hours of overtime will throw-ya off schedule!

Here we go......

Each year as the time for birthday party planning begins to come around (or, well, several months in advance, because that's how my brain seems to work). I start think about the past year and look for things that stand out as favorites for the past year in that Child's life. Last year, there was no thinking about it, hands down, BANANAS took the cake...and quite literally, I might add, since we served banana cake with banana cream frosting! Okay, time to hop off Memory Lane and back to THIS year!

This year there were a couple close contenders...dogs and pigs...better known as "woof, woof" and "oink". He liked to especially bark at his grandmas, since they both have dogs. Then I'd hear him making his pig noise and searching out each one of his books that had a pig in it He knew right where to look! But most definitely hot-air balloons seem to deserve that special place of honor.

2 years have flown right by,
but not before Corban learned to cry....BALLOON!

He is particularly fond of the Hot-Air type,
that float through the sky
and go bye-bye...

Unfortunately, he doesn't understand
we have no control over where they go
But thanks to the internet we can sit down and watch anytime.
As the video starts he says...Here we go!

Here's the background story:

One wintry afternoon sometime in February 2009, we looked out the back-porch window and saw a huge hot air balloon floating by. We showed Corban and it took a minute for him to see it, and when he did he started saying "boon! Boon!" and then it floated away. At just over 1 year old, Corban didn't quite grasp Dada and Mama explaining that it went bye-bye and we couldn't bring it back, he continued to ask over and over and OVER!

So off to the computer Dada went to find some "boons" We found this nice little trailer for a ballooning DVD and I think we've ALL fallen in love with it. Dada has his special times sharing this video with him and I can tell already that the music has been filed in my heart as one of those childhood moments that will bring me back to the time I was able to cuddle up my little one in my lap and watch the balloons together for the few short minutes while it lasts. It's fun pointing out the different balloons and talking about what's about to happen next. The cutest thing of all is that Corban picked up on Dada saying "here we go" just as it was about to begin, so now as soon as he knows the movie is about to begin, he gets all excited and says here we go, here we go!

Here's the short video: