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.

Easter

Easter was good, we dressed up and went to church. Came home and I cooked lunch. Rachel enjoyed her Easter baskets. We did not hunt eggs at home since she got to do that at school. Then she got to see her Mimi and Pappa for a couple of days and go shopping. She loves that!

Disney On Ice

We took Rachel to see Disney on Ice, she absolutely loved it. She just beamed and clapped so hard as all the Disney characters came out to sing and skate. Her favorites were of course the princesses, but the very last ensemble to come out and skate was the cast of Toy Story. She got very very excited when they came out. Then she was talking 90 mph in the car as we headed home, and then silence. I looked back and she had passed out.

Accessorize

Rachel is all about accessories right now. She likes the belts, jewelry (real not play), matching shoes, tights etc.... I think she will be a huge shoe person, she always asks for new ones. And she is always asking to wear my diamond necklace....ummm I don't think so. I let her wear some of my silver necklaces, but the diamonds and pearls are off limits. I always find her picking up her dad's wedding ring and trying to confiscate it. She is definitely into the bling.

Rachels first snow

Rachel is 4 1/2 years old and has now had the pleasure of her first snowfall. She LOVES it, she must have those Iowa bones in her.

Rachel eating the snow, yes it is clean snow.

Hitting Daddy with the snowball she made

Making a snow angel

The Princess Snow-Woman

Pajama Day

Today was pajama day at Pre K, one of Rachels favorite. The kids all look so cute in their jammies. They get to watch movies and eat popcorn and the school also has a magic show for them to attend. I was helping out today so I got to go to the magic show as well. He was really funny. An elderly man who does silly tricks and jokes. The kids just beamed.

Christmas fun

We traveled a little over 2000 miles this Christmas visiting family in Memphis TN and Dothan AL. But the time was great, we all had a lot of fun. So I posted a photo album of our trip. Move mouse over picture to get story and pause picture.

The Christmas Party

Rachel's last day of Pre K before Christmas break was Thursday. They played bingo, sang songs, exchanged gifts (a book exchange), and decorated sugar cookies. She loves parties, but most of all as we watch her she is becoming more independent and creative. Her vocabulary has exploded since school started up, just other day she told me that the red fire pull on the wall was for EMERGENCY only. Now at home, everything is an EMERGENCY. She also fascinates us with her memory. Yesterday we bought her some new Christmas jammies with feet in them, VERY CUTE. And she said, "I remember when I had red striped ones like these and I jumped on Mimi's bed with Allison and Nicholas." Okay just to fill you in, that was 2 years ago when Rachel was only 2 years old.

The Dance Recital

After 12 weeks of ballet training it has come down to Rachels recital. The kids did great and looked so cute. Rachels dance teacher even said "I think Rachel is ready fora solo :-)" Rachel's part was small, she plays an angel who does a few turns and then kneels down, but for some reason she danced the entire show with the older girls and did everyones part. It was great, and she loved it.

Tidings of Joy...

Here are some pictures of Rachel trimming the Christmas tree, and her letter to Santa. She enjoyed writing the letter, putting it in the envelope and then putting it in the mail box to be sent to the North Pole. The letter states:

Dear Santa
I want a
Jessie Doll (from Toy Story)
Love Rachel

Then she drew some pictures of presents and a few random letters. :-)