The British herald; or, Cabinet of armorial bearings of the nobility & gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, from the earliest to the present time with a complete glossary of heraldic terms: to which is prefixed a History of heraldry, collected and arranged ... By Thomas Robson

The British herald; or, Cabinet of armorial bearings of the nobility & gentry of Great Britain & Ireland, from the earliest to the present time with a complete glossary of heraldic terms: to which is prefixed a History of heraldry, collected and arranged ... By Thomas Robson: ""

End of the Year is almost Here!

I don't post as much here as I'd like because I don't find this blog interface user-friendly. I am also on Facebook so much and that is where you'll get the daily updates of anything fun. Also, it's so much easier to post photos there. So if you're not on Facebook, you might want to consider it!

For the record, Zara has been walking since 13 and a half months (right before Halloween) and Roman just doesn't seem interested. He'll take a step and go jelly-legs. Crawling is so much more efficient for him, I'm guessing.

But Roman does have one word he's used several times: "cracker." So that was our exciting piece for the week! My friend Brooke noticed it first, so we're saying he said it that day she was here, which was November 18th. The photo with the two boys is of that day Brooke was here with her son, Sawyer, who is just 7 weeks younger than our kiddos. He and Roman have a great time together--Zara is a bit stand-offish, it seems. Future introvert perhaps?

Zara waves hello and good bye, and says "mmm' when she's eating. Roman uses the sign language gesture for "more," and also claps his hands when he's happy! They both love digging in the fridge and we are trying to keep that at a minimum but it is cute.

Photos posted are from October and November.

It's a fun time but also laden with tantrums...just another phase!

Videos and Pictures of 11-Month-Olds!

Roman and Zara at play in the "alley"
of the kitchen

Roman asleep in his Jumperoo

Zara playing in cozy denims and long sleeves

Roman's giggling!

Zara's sputtering and organizing!

Dave Keirsey (tempeament guru) and Roman at our dinner at Rio Grande Mexican

Over the Mountains and Through the Sky

...to Grandmother's house we go!

Roman and Zara took their first airplane trip on July 23rd. We planned as well as we could, giving them an antihistamine and making sure they could suck on their bottles during take-off and landings. For the flight to Boise I rated Zara an A- and Roman a B-. For the flight home, Roman got higher marks for sleeping longer!

Grandma Kate and Grandpa Bill were elated to have all three of their grandchildren in Boise at the same time. It was a bittersweet experience, however, since grandson Brady (age 6 weeks at the time of our visit) is set to move to Arizona with his folks, Todd's sister Nicole, and her husband Chad. August 14th they'll say good-bye to Boise.

In the meantime, Grandma Kate took tons of photos! Todd and I never broke out our camera once the whole trip! I told Todd that it felt something like a press junket, with visitors arriving in a stream, asking similar questions and making similar comments about the kiddos. We didn't mind! It was fun seeing everyone and finally being able to show them off.

There are literally 100s of photos but none are on this computer, so I shall have to post them later. If you have a facebook account, I have many posted there.

We Traveled to Minnesota in a Mini-van...

...And lived to tell about it.
Barely! We'd never, never, NEVER recommend a long road trip with two (or even one!) 10-month-olds. The first time we tried driving through the night, thinking they'd sleep most of it. Wrong. The second time, on the way home, we tried splitting it into two days and stopping a lot, every 100 miles or less, to give them a break. Still plenty of torture for one and all. They got their first stay in a hotel. They traveled through three states (Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota), so that is something they can mark down as "accomplishing" in their first year!





We went to see my people, dearest friends and mentor, Zara's middle name-sake, Sharon Johnson.

I walked up the street that I grew up on, Zieglers Drive, with my best friend from college, Alyssa, and my children. She kindly took a photo of me and my kiddos in front of the house I grew up in. Roman kindly thrust his legs in the air, just for "kicks!"


We spent a wonderful week full of laid back, quality time with "Grandpa Ray and Grandma Sharon." I myself enjoyed a couple of very brief outtings without the kiddos, one with my friend Alyssa and one with Kristi. Lots of hard laughter and some tears, too, all very good!

The kids did their best with the disrupted routines. They slept in pack-n-plays, and of course Sharon the baby sitter extraordinaire had plenty of toys and equipment on hand.

I got to see ALL the Johnson boys togthether again, too. I hadn't seen Doug, Jer, or Danny in over 10 years! These are the guys that I "grew up" with. Some of them, who shall remain unnamed, tortured me a little, and gave me what (very) little toughness I acquired in the pseudo little-sister role. Todd has always said I should have had older brothers to toughen me up. I tell him I did, and he rolls his eyes. I guess the Johnson men were too "nice."

Sharon and Ray took us out to a fun Mexian place near their place. The babies enjoyed refried beans. Here they are in their dinner chairs waitng for the food, and Zara in the photo alone looks like she's getting pretty anxious for that food to arrive!

I got to see the three "Joyce Girls" that I grew up with at Sharon's house, Ellen, Deirdre, and Kathleen (can you tell they're Irish?!) Here is a pic of me with Ellen on the right and Deirdre on the left.


I also got a photo of most of the offspring of the Joyce girls and my kiddos! Ellen's eldest, Ailee, was gone at camp, and of course Kathleen's eldest, Sean, passed away at age 10 March 2007. They all miss him terribly. This grieving process is still in full force in Minnesota amongst "my people" and I tried to engage in it as much as I could with them. Pictured on Sharon's couch (where else would we convene?) are: Sage Joyce, Zara, Roman, Maeve Snapko (Ellen's), Keira Snapko, and Clare Snapko.

My best friend from high school hosted a yummy burger dinner for us and I got to see her dear parents for the first time in at least 10 years as well! So many reunions, it was a wonderful but exhausting trip. And believe it or not, we are planning to go to Boise, Idaho on July 23rd for a full week! We are flying this time, and hopefully that will be more endurable.

Goodbye, Fluti

We had a dramatic and then sad event take place this past week. Our beloved Toy Poodle, Fluti, had apparently had a rough day. Roman was pulling himself up against the couch, and I was sitting there with Fluti beside me. Although Fluti has shown affection for and even seemed protective of the babies, she is first and foremost "Mommy's" dog. Without warning, she lashed out and bit Roman near the eye! This picture shows the bite mark.


In that instant, Fluti's life changed forever :(
I knew she could not stay in the house. For now, my parents have adopted her. Since they already have two Toy Poodles of their own, that is a lot to take on. I am happy to still be able to see Fluti, but they do hope that my sister and her husband can adopt her. They live in Salt Lake City, however. I've felt, too, that Fluti wasn't getting the attention she deserved, so I console myself with the notion that at my parents' or Jami & Nick's, she'll get more attention. Either way, we are now a home without a dog--but a safer one for the kiddos.







On a much happier note, Zara is officially crawling and keeping up with her brother all over the house (main floor only for now.) She is making lots of babbling noises along with Mr. Roman, and we've officially ended physical therapy since both the pediatrician and the therapist (and we) feel she is completely in the range that she should be for her age! It's a good feeling. Pictured above are Roman and Zara strumming the vent and Roman looking at himself on TV.


We took the kids swinging outside for the first time last week and have gone many times since. They love it, especially Zara (who is hard to impress--much like her father!)

This video shows me and my mother (Grandma Rena) swinging at the local park with the kiddos.

We are leaving for a family roadtrip to Minnesota next Tuesday. I'll be sure to post some things from that "adventure."

June Rolls By

Today Aunt Becky from Raleigh, NC came by for a visit! It was fun to have her play with the kids and see her again after many years. Zara seems to be getting better about letting people hold her. We've been working on it a bit, and Becky was able to feed and hold and cuddle Little Girl!

Roman was very entertaining, and acting very "snarky" as we like to say.

Zara continues to make progress, and frankly, it's hardly worth talking about on a therapeutic level anymore. The nine-month well-care visit to the pediatrician was on the 16th, and Zara appears completely on track for her age, as does Mr. Roman. Z still does have what might be some "tongue weakness," but it will take care of itself. (Until then, photos like this will be smattered throughout her portfolio, poor kid!)

This is a photo of Roman looking very much like his dad when Todd was little. I had to include it! See that mischievious grin? I'm hoping that doesn't mean, as our friend Brooke says, that he's "Trouble!"

We are doing our best to baby proof the house. Despite what it looks like in this picture, we keep them away from cords and plastic! We have to get the baby gates up and all the other things that are must-dos for their safety.

We're planning a trip to Minnesota the first week of July. We are taking it in the mini-van! I am hoping that well-laid plans and some flexibility will enable a good trip! It's a trip to see my "peeps" since many of them haven't met the babies (or vice versa, however you want to look at it!) and Zara of course, must meet my mentor, Sharon Johnson, since she is Zara Sharon.

Lately we've been able to go on late afternoon (early evening) walks with Todd after he finishes work for the day. The five of us (Fluti comes, too) hit the road with the BOB Duallie stroller and enjoy the evening as the air starts to cool. We've had to pull the stroller backwards sometimes since the sun gets in the kids' eyes and they cry about that! But it's still quite enjoyable.

There has been an increase in baths lately--more "solid" foods have made for messier babies, and messier diapers! In general, they really like baths, especially Zara. However, the latest bath time, for whatever reason, had her very upset. So we have a photo of Romey to represent them both this time.