We are still here!

Here are a few things we have been up to since the last post:

Pretty Pretties

Rae wears these around the house all day. When you ask her where her pretties are she finds these and puts them on. I guess I have a girlie girl on my hands...who likes to be filthy and play in the dirt too. What a sweetheart!

Beach fun-freezing style!

Back at the beginning of October, we went and camped on the beach with most of Jeff's family. Although we usually go during the summer, we were hoping to escape some of the summer heat this year. We succeeded. We froze our tootsies off almost every night we were there. I guess San Diego decided to have a cold front and didn't tell us. We were NOT prepared to say the least. Although after dark was cold, the days were beautiful! We were able to enjoy a few good days on the beach, as well as a Sunday afternoon at the San Diego temple, a day at Sea Port Village, and a day at Knott's Berry Farm. I was worried that Rae would be a handful, and she was, but she enjoyed every minute of our vacation. Here are some of our pictures in no particular order.






For journaling sake...while we were at Knott's, we took Rae on her first "Roller Coaster" (or log ride). It was similar to Splash Mountain at Disney only a little less cartoon and a little more creepy. We were in the log and on our way up to the top when...the ride stops. We are at this point thinking that they just need to get the other boat farther in front of us, no big deal that we are at a very uncomfortable upward angle. About five minutes later they come and inform us that the ride was broken, and rescue us through backstage off the ride. Then the park closed. Sorry Rae. You will have to wait until later to ride your first coaster.

Not my needed update, but that can come later...

I was tagged, and I am usually VERY bad about doing tags, but Rae is sleeping and I am trying to put off cleaning so here it is...for all your reading enjoyment!

A) Attached or single: Very attached...for the rest of eternity...and loving every minute!

B) Best friends: Many of my friends from high school, as well as my sisters and sister-in-laws.

C) Cake or pie: Either as long as they are sugar-filled

D) Day of choice: Thursday or Saturday...two days of the week they let me out...

E) Essential item: shoes...for protecting my feet and killing bugs...although they get used for the latter more often around here.

F) Favorite color: green

G) Gummy bears or Gummy worms: Either...goes back to my sugar addiction

H) Hometown: Mesa, AZ

I) Indulgence: Anything sweet...and Dr. Pepper...the two things I will do almost anything for...

J) January or July: Because I am tired of the heat I will say January, but if you ask me in January I will say July.

K) Kids: Beautiful Baby Rae

L) Life wouldn't be complete without: my family and friends, and the gospel

M) Marriage date: June 21, 2003

N) Number of brothers and sisters: One older brother, two younger sisters

O) Oranges or apples: Oranges

P) Phobias: Heights

Q) Quotes: "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." Abe Lincoln

R) Reasons to smile: Baby fat (on babies...not me), rain, steady paychecks, good food, family, good books, friends, upcoming vacations

S) Season of choice: Fall

T) Tag some people: Anyone with a few minutes and a desire to do this one!

U) Unknown fact about me: I enjoy a peanut butter and sweet pickle sandwich every now and then.

V) Vegetable: Squash, zucchini, broccoli, peas, corn, pretty much any of them...

W) Worst habit: Blogging when I should be cleaning

X) X-ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasound...usually a happy moment. I have been hurt or sick for every x-ray.

Y) Your favorite food: Pizza and wings, and Mexican food

Z) Zodiac sign: Taurus

There you go...me in a nutshell. I will post a real update as soon as I can talk myself into finding the cord to download new pictures.

Thank Goodness it's FRIDAY!!

I am so glad this work week is over. I am ready for a good weekend. Kinda done dealing with everyday stresses and I am choosing to ignore almost all responcibility for the next two days. My goal for next week...have a better attitude by Monday morning (and then don't let it fly out the window) and eat a little more chocolate (it helps keep my good attitude). Now I am accountable to anyone who reads this. Wish me luck!!

Allison Johnson

This came as no big suprise. I have met one of them already.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1,136 people with my name in the U.S.A. http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

Happy Birthday my Love!

Just wanted to give a shout out to my favorite guy. Happy Birthday!! Love you so much old man! Thanks for all your hard work inside and outside our home. Thanks for being so hands-on as a dad. Thanks for always trying to come home wearing a smile, even when work is the pits. We just love ya to pieces and hope you have a wonderful day!!

One year down...

That's right! My baby is one today! This year has just flown by, and I love her little emerging personality more everyday. Rae is such a loving funny little girl, and I am so grateful to be her Mommy!! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the last year in no particular order:

Four months

Seven months
Nine months
Eleven months
Ten months
Three days
Three hours
Two Hours
Two Months
Three months

Jensen Family Reunion

We spent last week in Utah for a reunion. I was terrified of the 12 hour drive there and home, but Rae did wonderful. Not one fit the whole way. (Although we did keep her happy with and endless supply of juice, goldfishes, Cheerios, and Baby Einstein.) Thanks for letting us use your portable DVD player Jill! I am positive it is the ONLY reason that our drive was pleasant.


This is the house in Pleasant Grove, UT Jeff was raised in until he moved to Arizona when he was five. It was so much fun to drive around and see all of the places that I have heard stories about! Rae really enjoyed getting dirty at the lodge. The cleanest place for her to crawl around was outside in the grass. Her mother must have been nutty to pack white shorts for her when we were going to be camping!

I was able to ride the zip-line while we were there. For those of you who don't know me, I am DEATHLY afraid of heights. It was hard to step off the platform, but so much fun to ride down!
This is almost all of the family that came up for the reunion. We took this picture right before we left the canyon to come home. (Joel and Kristina had stayed in a hotel-definitely easier with a baby, but that is why they weren't in the picture. I may have been jealous for a minute or two, I do love climate controlled rooms!)

We spent the first day in Lagoon. Jeff and I got ride the rides thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson staying with Rae. Rae enjoyed playing in Aunt Eden's wheelchair.

Help me...please?

I am having a harder time than I thought trying to figure out Coupon sense. It isn't that I have questions, rather I think I just need someone to explain it to me. I think I understand the logistics, but how can I apply them when I go shopping to make the most of my coupons and dollars?

This is the primary reason I don't ever post. I started out with four pictures and just a couple sentances explaining them. Rae saw the laptop open and decided to come help. What you see iswhat she was able to do before I could get to the post button. Gotta go!!\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Just a couple of my favorite recent pics...

post.\is h
\ae

\elping me type th

Where have we been you may ask?

Well....not anywhere really. I have had a very hard time posting ever since Rae started crawling about 2 months ago. If she isn't busy unloading my cupboards, or trying to drink Windex, then she is definitely hitting the keys on the keyboard faster than I can stop her. Since this blog is doubling as our family journal, I thought I would post Rae's 9 month stats. (Yeah, they were taken 5 weeks ago. Sign me up for the mom of the year award.) She WAS officially 22.5 lbs and 30 inches long. That puts her in the 95% for weight and off the charts for height. And if anyone would like to come massage my back, it might be constantly throbbing from the Chubba Bubba attached to my hip! Right now Rae's favorite things to do are watch Backyardigans, get into EVERYTHING, taste new foods, and give everyone loves. My favorite is the loves. When Rae was born she hated to cuddle. At only a few hours old she would arch her back to escape a hug. Now it is one of her favorite games. She frantically grabs at my legs or shirt until I give her a big squeeze and then laughs hysterically. As much as I am not loving her troublemaker side (that shakes her finger at me and yells stop), I wouldn't trade her for anything!!

You might be asking yourself why there are no adorable pictures with this long boring post. There would have been, but they wouldn't upload. Sorry. Better luck next time!

Help! I need ideas!!

I think I have sharing time this month in primary and I have NO IDEAS for what to do. My theme to work with is "I will be reverent, dress modestly, and speak kindly to be worthy to enter the temple." How can I gear this to a very young primary, and how can I include my Sunbeams in the presentation? Any good ideas out there?!?

Quick recap of our month

I am not sure what it is about having a crawler, but life seems to be in overdrive lately. We were fortunate enough to spend a few weeks in Oceanside, CA this month. Thanks Joel and Kristina for inviting us! We had so much fun!! Rae also broke two more teeth. We officially have front teeth now! Hooray! Bring on the cookies!

OK, GO!

Here we go again! Rae is sick for the third time in three months. I am starting to think my kid has the weakest immune system known to man! It all started with a runny nose last Wednesday, and has escalated into fever, vomiting, and diarrhea for the last two days. Help! How can I keep my baby healthy?!?

p.s. I tried to add a beautiful picture of my sick princess but alas, blogger won't let me! Grrrr!

Happy Belated Easter!

Our family had such a good Easter and were able to spend time with both of our families. Rae had a ton of fun at her first Easter egg hunt. The egg she found made a great rattle.Here she is checking out the loot in her first Easter basket. She had a ton of fun things like pink tennis balls, a hat to wear to the pool, and a bunch of new books. Her favorite things were her new flower headband and the tags on her stuffed animals.Here she is ready to go to church and learn about the resurection in sunbeams. I loved her little Easter dress! This was my favorite Easter basket though. Who knew that a cranky baby could be a cute baby by putting her in a basket?!?

Lastly, but not least important, I made a Key Lime Pie tonight from scratch. I was TERRIFIED to taste it because it came out of the oven a pukey yellow color. It tasted just like they used to when we lived in Florida. I highly recommend to anyone who has never had Key Lime Pie to try it. It is super easy to make, and key limes are in season....

Doctor update

I took Rae to the doctor yesterday. We originally had made the appointment at her six month check, because she couldn't roll over. When I told him that she still couldn't roll over...or at least that I think it is more a matter of she hates rolling over...he told me that we had better be safe than sorry. We left the office with a referral to a pediatric neurologist and a prescription for antibiotics. (He thinks she originally had the flu, but the congestion went to her lungs and turned into a very mild case of pneumonia.) Now after a few doses of her new candy (antibiotics), she is almost back to her old temperament. Still a little cranky, but we are back to playing and giggling all day long!

Just so that I actually have to do it, I am announcing that I am going to finally post Easter pictures this weekend!

Help!

Rae has been sick since Saturday night and I am about to lose my mind! What do you do to stay sane when you have sick children?

Carrots?

I have been trying to think of easy things that I can do to stretch every dollar. I posted earlier about wanting to make my own baby food. I have spent the last week or so researching prep and storage and thought it sounded pretty easy. Last night after I put dinner in the oven, I decided to just give it a whirl. Totally easy! I didn't actually make enough to worry about trying to freeze it, but Rae seems to enjoy her food fresh just as much as she did from the jar. Here are a couple pictures of my carrot puree and one of my sweet baby after eating her fresh carrots.

I finally did it!

I have been meaning to try my hand at bread making for awhile now. I finally decided today was the day. It was nerve racking, but relatively easy. My bread didn't turn out perfect, but it wasn't as awful as I expected it to be. I'll have to try it again soon! My next project is to find some good baby food puree recipes. I'll domesticate myself if it is the last thing I do!

Fun afternoon...

Rae and I went to lunch with some of our friends from the ward to the Olive Mill. The food was really good, but didn't even compare to the beautiful weather and the fun company. We sat outside because we all had kids, and it was just too nice not to! Luckily for me, Bethany remembered her camera and offered to share her pictures. Thanks Bethany!! We took this video of Rae's laugh. It makes me giggle everytime I hear it! After lunch we went to the new Super Target on Rittenhouse and Ocotillo. So nice! The shopping carts are so easy to steer and every shelf was stocked to capacity. Rae and her best friend Kennedy had so much fun playing together! What cute girls!!

Six months already?!?

Rae had her six month well baby check on Monday. Her new stats are as follows:

Height: 28in 100%+
Weight: 19lbs 9oz 95%

She is getting so big...and breaking my back in the process! Here is a little comparison; at a few days old and just today (I guess lunch with friends and almost 2 hours at the new Target wore her out!)



I just noticed yesterday that her legs and feet are so fat that they touch when she is standing! So cute!!

Update with pictures to come soon

Rae has had a cough for almost three weeks now, so I took her to the doctor last Friday. Turns out she has an ear infection. Lovely, she is on her first round of antibiotics. She is more cranky on the antibiotics than she was with the ear infection. We go back on Monday for her 6 month checkup. We have been kickin' it at home all week. I am sooo excited for this baby garage sale thing that I heard about. Check it out HERE. The really cool thing about it is that if you are expecting or have a baby under 1 year old, then you can register to go before it opens to the public. I plan on being there Friday by four o'clock. Hopefully that will be early enough to pick up a jogging stroller. Maybe I will see some of you in line!

Happy mommy and other things...

I was really sick of holding all of Rae's bottles, and seeing as how she is almost six months old I decided it was time for her to learn. I figured she could do it, because when you pull the bottle out of her mouth she grabs it and puts it back. I decided to just lay her on the floor and put her bottle next to her. Within a matter of seconds she had it picked up and in her mouth, happily eating away. What a stinker! She REFUSES to hold it if I am holding her, but does so well when left to her own devices.

I also took this picture sometime this weekend. What a sweet picture of my two favorite sweethearts!