Spitting Bananas!

Today Cambria discovered her ability to spit her food out. She's been working on it a little since yesterday and by this morning while I was feeding her a banana she had it down. She was so proud of herself and I was a big mess. Oh and by the way that 2nd tooth is in- so much fun!

S'MORES Anyone?

Just another reason to come visit the Johnstons! Kyle spent last Friday building a fire pit in our flag stone patio. It turned out great and we have already used it several times! Now all we need is some patio furniture!

Sprayground!

Wednesdays are one of our favorite days- it's play group day and we love it! For the past year a group of girls from our Sunday school class have been getting together on Wed. with our kids. It is such a wonderful time to be with our friends, the kids love playing together and of course the mom's love talking and helping eachother out (it's like being with family)! During the summer it's parks, zoo, and spraygrounds. It was actually perfectly 78 and breezy yesterday- perfect for the mom's, but the water was really cold (of course it didn't stop the kids). Gavin got right in and Avalyn avoided getting wet which was of course a squeeling good time. In the end Gavin had goose bumps and was shivering and Avalyn's hair was completely dry! We will have to go back on a much warmer day. It has been truly a blessing to have this time with our friends.

Too Cute, Too Funny!

Just thought I'd share these with you to put a smile on your face! Cambria just keeps jumping more and more and loving every minute of it. Her smile is so big when she is excited- I just get really close to her face and talk with a lot of excitement in my voice and she smiles so big! The scratches on her face were a little love pat from her little friend who came to play today. Of course some of the pictures turned out a little blurry, because she wouldn't stop jumping. Life is good, Life is precious!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Cambria!

Cambria on her Birthday!

Cambria Faith today at 6 months!

She has a lot less hair, but has grown so much! She is now smiling, eating solids, has 1 tooth, loves to jump in her jumparoo, loves her swing, sleeps around 11 hours at night, enjoys playing with our faces, absolutely adores her big brother and sister, wears glasses (at least when she is not chewing on them), loves to go out in the baby bjorn with mommy, and makes cooing sounds. She may not be quite as developed as she should be at 6 months, but she is happy and a growing so much everyday! Despite her extremeley poor vision, she is content and continues to progress slowly. We look forward to watching God work in and through Cambria! She is our little angel and is such a wonderful blessing to our family.

Our 3rd little Jumping Bean!

As many of you know Gavin and Avalyn absolutely loved jumping when they were babies. They spent countless hours in the Johny Jump up. Cambria has finally begun jumping herself, not for hours at a time (yet), but it does make her happy and I am sure there is a lot more jumping to come. Praise the Lord for our new Jumparoo, it is great not having to use the bathroom door way and she loves all the stuff on it to play with.

More Water Fun!

Today at Target I found a slip n slide on clearance for $4.95, it was the last one so I just had to get it. The kids had a great time playing in it. Gavin still doesn't get the correct way to go down it, but I am sure that will come in time and of course he didn't care he just tried whatever way worked best to slide on it. Avalyn was completely clueless but had fun walking in the water and playing at the end of it.

So Much Love- and a tooth!

So Happy!

At least when playing with brother and sister, yesterday her 1st tooth broke through her gums- this made her very sad and in quite some pain. I kept her on Motrin and she slept quite a bit, today her teeth weren't bothering her as much. Time has gone so fast, she is already getting teeth!

Avalyn at the Pool!

Avalyn looked so cute in her swim suit today out by the pool, I just had to take some pictures. She has absolutely loved the pool this year, last year she was not quite so sure about it.

This was our favorite. She was working hard at sitting on the little step with her legs crossed, she just kept on going back to that little step. Yep, that's our little diva- the funny thing is she wasn't posing at all.

Loving on Daddy!

Just before Cambria went to bed tonight she was just having such a wonderful time loving on her Daddy. It is so sweet to see her smile and she still loves when you get right up next to her face. So Much Love for Daddy!!! He's the BEST!!!

Playtime with Cambria

I finally got the tray for her Bumbo chair, she did enjoy looking at things on there for a little while. She prefers standing in her jumper or laying on her play mat, but I am hoping the bumbo and the tray come in handy when she starts eating with her hands and when she is more comfortable in the sitting position. She doesn't like tummy time too much either, despite the fact that she sleeps on her stomach. She was in a really good mood the other day and was having fun in her chair and for a little bit on her tummy. Please pray for her teeth, she has been in a lot of pain the last few days and very fussy, they have actually been hurting so bad that she often ignores her glasses.

Our new pool!

We decided to buy another pool this year. Every year since Gavin was 1 we have baught a blow up pool and every year there has been a hole put in it and I always loose the patch before the next year and we end up throwing away the pool. I think the kids used last years pool 2 times before it was slowly deflated on the patio. This year we said enough of that and baught the largest hard plastic pool we could find. We got in on the 4th of July and it survived 10 kids at the party. The kids absolutely love the slide. Of course the best pictures I've got of the kids in it were taken a couple days after we had it. It was around 6:30 pm and it had only hit 80 all day. I was cleaning the kitchen and let Gavin out to look at the pool- since the water was cold and it wasn't warm outside I told him to stay out, Avalyn joined him shortly. Kyle went out to watch them while he studied and after listening to the kids discuss how they could sneak in he let them go. So of course they were only in their underwear and no doubt freezing, they were shivering as they went down the slide and splashed around. They denied ever being cold and had a great time. They were all about taking pictures in their new pool, but not so much the next time when they were having a blast in bathing suits on a warm sunny day. So much Fun!

Happy 4th of July!

Fun watching the fireworks together

Cambria's 1st firework show- she was so happy!

Avalyn and Cambria sharing a chair! I think that's popcorn in her teeth!


Gavin of course is always having Fun!

Gavin acting like a firework- the picture didn't really catch him jumping up in the air with his arms and legs spread out while the fireworks went off behind him, but he still is so cute

You know that phrase in the National Anthem that says"and the bombs bursting in air...", well the people in Omaha, Nebraska take that phrase seriously every 4th of July. Yes that's right fire works are legal! It is quite a fun little tradition, fire work stands are everywhere supporting every kind of group you can think of and there is no doubt that no matter where you live in Nebraska there is going to be a show. We talked about going to see fire works tonight, but after a long day getting ready for our party this evening and then having 10 adults and 13 kids come over, we didn't really feel like moving- but of course we had promised Gavin fireworks- then around 9:15 we started hearing it. We all walked out to the back yard sat down in the lawn chairs and watched the firework show provided by our neighbors and the rest of Omaha. The kids were so excited, even Cambria enjoyed sitting outside with everyone. Gavin and Avalyn were jumping up and down and when Gavin said "these are the greatest fireworks ever" Kyle and I looked at eachother and knew we were just fine here at home. We didn't have to spend a dime on gass or fireworks and no energy to put 3 tired kids in the car. It was such a beautiful night and it is times like this, that we love being here. We had a wonderful time with our friends, with family so far away it is such a blessing to have friends to share holidays with. It still sounds like a war is being faught outside and it is 11 pm, but the kids are asleep and the house is clean and life is wonderful this 4th of July! God Bless America!

Happy 4th of July!

Cambria in her 4th of July dress! It was Avalyn's and looked very cute on Cambria. She has 2 bottom teeth coming through and desperately wanting to chew on her glasses, so she hasn't been keeping them on.

Pictures by a big garilla at a fireworks stand. These big blow up animals are everywhere and the kids have been wanting to go see one- of course by the time we get there it was nap time and they weren't thrilled with taking pictures, but still excited to see it up close.

Cambria update- Ophtomoligist appointment #2

Just a little update from Cambria's appointment with the opthomoligist. Her eyes are actually crossing more, pretty much all the time now- the doctor said that what crossing was left after wearing glasses for several months was due to muscle control. She is actual turning each eye in and using one to look in one direction and the other in the other direction- they look across (the left to the right and the right to the left). He does believe her eye sight is about the same in both eyes, because she uses them equally. It is still to early to know how bad her eye sight is, because of the natural development process in a baby's vision. He said we should see some changes in the next month, by 6 months a baby's eyes are able to see a lot more. We have seen some changes in the last month with her grabbing our faces and looking more at toys, we can't wait to see what the next month has in store for Cambria. The doctor said she will probably need surgery to loosen the muscles in her eyes and since she uses her eyes equally the best time to do that is between 9 and 12 months old. I was relieved that she would not need a patch, just the glasses all the time (not getting any easier with teeth coming). Her next appointment is Sept. 10 and we will keep you updated on the surgery.