Growing, Growing, Growing

The kids are growing so fast it is hard to keep up. Rachel is loving 1st grade and doing VERY well.  She totally impresses me with her knowledge.  She is reading at a mid 2nd grade level and getting all "A"'s I am so proud of her. Kate is still adjusting to her new class, it was a difficult transition but we are getting there. Her 2nd birthday is just around the corner and we are going all out this year!  Mark is Mark, he is totally laid back and chillin, he looks out at the world and says BRING IT ON!

Mark Thomas Johnson

Mark arrived on May 11th at 7:47 am, he was 8lbs 14 oz, and 20 1/2 inches long. He is a huge blessing for us since he is our first boy and was our surprise baby!  He is adorable of course and makes our family complete.  We named him Mark for many reasons.
1. We like the name and it's meaning - Warrior.  He is a warrior because we almost lost him during pregnancy, but he fought through it.
2. It is an anagram for our family,  Matthew, Andrea, Rachel, Kate
3.  And I had an uncle who passed away a few years ago, his name was Mark so it just makes it even more special to honor the Houghton family.  Now everyside of our family has a namesake.  

Rachel Dian is named after my mother
Kate Janet is named after Matthew's mother
Mark Thomas Johnson is a triple threat, he shares a Houghton first name, an Adams 2nd name (Matthews mom), and of course is the first JOHNSON (Matthew's dad) grandbaby that will carry on the name.

We have a very large family!  We have three babies in heaven that we lost during pregnancy, and three here with us.  That is 6 kids!  We are very blessed.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I cannot believe it has been since October since I have been on here, the addition of Kate has changed our lives so much and yet here we are again 2 weeks away from Mark's birth. Whew....how will I ever blog again :-) The girls are doing great! We have put a toddler bed in Rachel's room to make room for Kate. Rachel is VERY excited to share a room with her sister. We will see if she is singing the same tune in a few months. But Kate is also excited. Kate is still in the nursery in her crib, the transition will be a slow one since Mark will be in our room via bassinet for a few weeks. School is almost out and Rachel will be graduating from Kindergarten, Kate will be spending the summer at home with me and Mark. Rachel has not yet decided to go to summer camp or not. She may not have a choice, I know there will be days that I need a break! Below are some pictures of how the girls have changed over the past few months...enjoy!

Fall Family Fun

We went to Memphis during fall break to visit family and had a great time. Gran and Granddad took the girls to a pumpkin patch, they both loved it. My how they have grown and how beautiful our girls are.

Rachel is contemplating getting her ears pierced, she goes back and forth on her decision. Only time will tell.

Crawling and Spitting

Kate has grown so much so fast, it is hard to believe her birthday is just around the corner. We bought a baby swing to add to our outdoor swing set and she loves it. She is somewhat crawling. She will take a few scoots or a few crawls and stop, she has not yet taken off in a sprint yet. And she has discovered how to make a motor boat sound with her mouth...oh yeah!

Memphis

We took the girls to Memphis to visit Gran and Granddad, we all had a great time. Rachel really enjoyed playing outside with the slip and slide and sprinkler. Kate loved being with her Gran and Granddad, we quickly learned that Granddad's voice was very appealing to her.

School Days are over....

Summer season is fast approaching. Rachel has finished preschool and is doing nothing but talking about Kindergarten and how excited she is about it. Her Pre K year end program was great. I am so proud of her. She won the Barnabas award in her class for being a leader, helper, and encourager. This award is given out every year at Northside and we are so happy for her.

Disney World

We surprised Rachel with a family Spring Break Trip to Disney World. We all had a wonderful time and can not wait to have the chance to go again. Kate did great despite her cold, and I must say that Disney is incredibly baby friendly. Kate got to do so many things and ride almost everything Rachel did.

A toothless grin and Baby dedication...

Rachel is an official kid! Not a toddler, not a preschooler but a kid. Why??? Because she has lost her two front teeth! She looks so much different and I have to giggle every time she speaks because she lisps. She is going to play soccer this Spring and is very excited about it. We are all going to the mountains President weekend for a family getaway and really excited about it. The place is really nice and cozy. Then we are taking the girls to Disney World in April. We have not told Rachel yet, we want to surprise her, she is going to love it. We have booked dinner with Cinderella, Breakfast with Mickey Mouse and a spa treatment at the Bippity Boppity Botique. She gets her hair, nails and makeup done like a princess.

We had Kate's baby dedication ceremony/reception. She wore the infamous ivory dress that is now 40 years old, the fifth and final Houghton--Frith--Johnson girl to wear it. It was very elegent and special.

Time is flying by

After the Christmas holiday flew by I just can not keep up with life it seems. Kate is already 6 weeks old, Rachel is learning to read and can already recognize certain words. The days of Matthew and I spelling to each other to keep things from her are quickly coming to an end. Rachel is a great helper with Kate, although after about the 10th time of me asking her to put the pacifier back in Kate's mouth Rachel looked at me and said "I am not Cinderella you know." I laughed and said, "you used to always want me to cal you Cinderella, and now you get to be her." Rachel never complains, she loves being there for diapers, helps cloth her, bath her, feed her etc.... For Christmas Rachel got a Wii, and she loves it. I am not sure who plays it more though.... her or her daddy.

The Christmas Program

Rachel was the head Angel in her schools Christmas program. She got to say "Many years ago God said He would send a Savior" that line opened up the whole show. She did great! She was not nervous or shy at all. I thought she would bale being the first one to speak, but she did wonderful! The program was really cute. Our nephew Grant was a wise man, and all the kids did a good job and looked so cute in their costumes!

Baby Sister and getting ready for Christmas

Kate arrived on November 29th and we could not be happier about it. No one can hold a candle to Rachel's joy. She just beams around Kate and I am sure as Kate grows she will beam around Rachel. Rachel is an awesome helper, she holds her, feeds her, plays with her, and WATCHES me change diapers.

Rachel is very excited about Christmas, Matthew pulled out some old toys of his like match cars and legos. He and Rachel have been playing legos all day today. An old fire truck came roaring down our culdasac today carrying some kids, and Elf and Santa. It stopped infront of our house and Rachel ran out, gave Santa a big hug, got some pictures taken and ran back to the porch. She was so excited to see him. We got a chance to chat with a few of our neighbors who advised the Santa truck comes every year. What fun!!!

Cheerleading

Rachel has enrolled in Northsides Knee High Knights cheer squad and she absolutely loves it. She gets to do one cheer and one dance at the half time of the peewee basketball home games. Her Granddad has some video of her I will try to upload at another time. There are quite a few girls on the squad, many from her class so she really enjoys it. I think her favorite part is the pom poms, the JV cheerleaders at the school have taken a liking to her as well. The other day from what I hear via the cheer coach - Rachel and a friend were doing their own cheers on the sideline before half time. Rachel also gave up one of her pom poms to a girl who did not have any, she has such a sharing heart. Lets hope she keeps that sharing heart with a new sister.

Queen Esther

Northside had Spiritual Emphasis week the first week in November, all the Pre K classes were invited to dress up as a bible character. Of course at first we thought of the traditional Mary, Miriam, or even an Angel. But I wanted to be unique. Then it dawned on me....Rachel loves princess wear so why not be Queen Esther. She loved it and truly looked the part. They even let her lead the Pre K parade throughout the school.

Growing Up

Rachel has many times asked if she could color her hair "yellow" I have always told her when she was an adult she could do that but for now her hair would stay as it is. Her aunt Lisa bought her a yellow cinderella wig and like magic Rachel had her yellow hair. Well now she is on a pink hair kick, so of course I could not resist getting a pink hair wig. Could that smile be any bigger!

Happy 5th Birthday Rachel!

We celebrated Rachels 5th birthday with a My Little Pony party with her cousins Allison, Nicholas, and Grant. She had a really good time and got some really good loot. School starts Monday which is her actual birthday so we are bringing donuts to class. She is very excited about school and had a lot of fun shopping for her uniform. Let's just hope she enjoys wearing it everyday as much as she did buying them.

Getting Settled

We are getting settled in our new home in Dothan Alabama. Rachel is adjusting well. She is really enjoying seeing her cousins here everyday. Nighttime has been a little tough. Mostly because her room held so many boxes she was getting disoriented in the night. Yesterday we finished her room and it is adorable. She loves it and slept through the night. Today we go to register her for school. She is excited to see her new school and very happy that her cousin Grant will be in her class. Matthew is also going to see his new office and meet some people at the school before he officially starts in August.

We attended Allison's (cousin) birthday party. It was a Fiesta!!! Rachel did really good with the pinata.

Big Sister Rachel

Rachel has been asking for a sister and today it was confirmed that she will be getting one. Baby girl Johnson will be here in late November and we could not be happier about it. When the technician announced it would be a girl Rachel's response was.... YESSSSSS! Then I felt her hot tiny hand gently grab my foot as if she was holding my hand in support. I could not help but let a tear roll down my cheek and unfortunately into my ear.

The Beach

We took Rachel to Panama City Beach Florida for her first beach experience and she absolutely loved it. She is a total outdoors person. She loved the water, playing in the sand, and looking for sea shells.