Before and After

Karen told me that I should include a "before newborn" and "after newborn" photo of my face. So, here they are.

Recent Snow

We got a large snowstorm a few weeks ago. This may not look all that impressive to you folks in Utah but it was one of the largest snowstorms in VA history. I might add that it took me a total of about 7 hours to shovel the driveway. Right when I finished shoveling, I turned around and saw Winston, the very naughty neighborhood bulldog, walking up our driveway.

Newborns

You may have noticed that I haven't added any entries since Natalie's been home from the hospital. There are at least three reasons for this. First, my laptop got dropped one too many times last month and finally died. In three short years, the poor computer went from a shiny new piece of art to a bruised and battered and, finally, broken machine. Let's just say laptops and small girls don't mix very well. Second, I've been busy finishing our music room in the new detached garage. If I get an hour or two, I try to spend it chipping away at the project. The good news is that I'm almost done. The bad news is that if I continue at the rate that I've been going, I won't be done until May of 2019. Okay, that's not quite true. I hope to be done within a month's time at which point we'll start taking reservations for Hotel Johnson. The third and most significant reason for my lack of blogging is the fact that newborns are put on this earth for one reason...TO SUCK THE LIFE OUT OF PARENTS!!!! Sure, they're cute. Yes, they smell good. And yes, those little smiles do light up the room. However, they also cause certain things to happen to parents' faces and brains that far outweigh the cute little things that they do. For example, in the six weeks since Natalie was born, my face has gone from a normal albeit slightly wrinkled state to a grotesquely distorted and nearly unrecognizable condition. My brain has, admittedly, never worked quite right but the problem has exploded to the point that I'm considering writing my own name and telephone number on my hand every day just in case I can't remember.
Do I love my new daughter? Absolutely!! Am I grateful for her? Without question. Do I enjoy the newborn stage? Let me answer that by having you take a look at my face.
Here's a couple of recent pictures of the happy times.

Natalie Jane Johnson

Natalie Jane Johnson, born Thanksgiving day at 9:46 PM.
Little Natalie was polite enough to wait for Grandma and Grandpa Jay and Careen's arrival and for the end of our Thanksgiving feast. Let's just hope that she continues to have such good timing the rest of her life. Natalie has been a tremendous blessing in the Johnson household and we are grateful to have her.

Soup

This morning at breakfast, Julia informed me that she was planning on making a soup after school. Not wanting to discourage her from pursuing things of the kitchen, I asked her what type of soup she wanted to make. She started to think and after a minute or two, decided to write a recipe. When the recipe was complete, she put it on the recipe holder and then got ready for school. When I picked her up from school, one of the first things she asked about was when she could make her soup. I told her that she could get started right away.
After faithfully following her recipe, she decided to give the soup a taste. To my surprise, she said that it was good. She then got Audrey to give it try. I was again shocked to hear Audrey tell Julia that it was good.
I now offer the recipe (complete with Julia's spellings) for your consideration.

SOUP

Flower (Flour)
Ster (Stir)
Salt
Ster (Stir)
Cheas (Cheese)
Mickrwave (Microwave)
Done

It should be noted that as the two of them sat down to eat their soup, they decided that it needed a little bit of sugar. As best I could tell, the optimal sugar to liquid ratio that they decided on was about 2 to 1.

No News Yet

Girl #3 does not seem to be in a hurry. We're all getting a bit impatient to meet her but she seems quite content right where she's at. Maybe she knows what she's in for when she arrives.

Home Again

After being gone for over a month, I made it home just in time to celebrate Julia's 6th birthday, attend Julia's violin recital and to hear Audrey's thoughts on her future sister "Stacy." We're not sure where the name Stacy came from but Audrey seems to be stuck on it lately. We're glad that girl # 3 didn't arrive while I was away but now that I'm home, we wouldn't mind it too much if she made her appearance a bit early.