Christmas Season 2011

We had a great Christmas season this year. It was a busy time of year filled with a visit to see Santa (that went much better than last year), tree trimming, family celebrations, visits with good friends, and birthday festivities.

This year, Santa knew what he was doing when it came to having little ones sit on his lap. Santa told us that we'd all sit down with him and get a few pictures and then each of the parents would slink away, leaving only Luke sitting on Santa's lap. It worked great! You can tell that Luke still wasn't 100% comfortable sitting on his lap, but it was a vast improvement over last year! Then of course, Luke talked about it for days and days afterward!

The whole family posing with the jolly old elf.

Luke giving his best "cheese" while slightly uncomfortable being the only one left with Santa.

Loving the tree and all the decorations (this tree looks a little small in the space we have now, but it was a perfect tree for our condo). :)

Johnson Family Christmas celebration at our house. All the cousins posing for the camera.

Upon our arrival to Georgia, Luke needed to unwind with a good guitar duet with his Gramps.

Luke also got a little Georgia cousin time. He loves Anna, Ella, and KK and says their names in that order like they are one person. :)

We took a day trip to visit the Bridges family in Greenville, SC. Luke and Will had a nice time visiting and having a good ol' snack of animal crackers together while bonding over the fish the Bridges were "fish sitting."

On Christmas Eve we went to church and Luke sat with us through the entire service. He really enjoyed watching everyone and "singing" Christmas music. His favorite part was when we celebrated Jesus' birth by singing "Silent Night" by candle light (my favorite part too).

Luke finishing out the advent calendar by putting baby Jesus in his bed of hay on Christmas Eve night.

Posing for the camera one more time with Gram and Gramps before bed time.

Christmas day present extravaganza!

The day after Christmas we spent part of the day at the firehouse that Gramps volunteers for. It's always a highlight for Luke to get to see the firetrucks up close and personal. He loves it!

We also celebrated mine and Eric's birthdays. Luke did a great job singing "Happy to you" and helping to blow out the birthday candles!

Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a great brunch meal at Grandpa Frank and Grandma Kathy's and then a nice turkey dinner at the Orozco household. This year we were able to take a "nap break" between Thanksgiving meals since we live so close to everyone now - it was wonderful!! And we're excited to see what Thanksgiving looks like next year with another little Johnson boy in the mix. :)

Baby J #2 is a...

When we were pregnant with Luke, we decided not to find out his gender until his birthday. It was such a wonderful surprise and I thoroughly enjoyed being the one to announce the "it's a boy" news in the delivery room and to all of our parents right after he was born. This time around we decided to find out the baby's gender at the mid-point of the pregnancy, but I still wanted the element of surprise involved. So, this is where we called in my mom. We invited my mom to come with us to our 20-week ultrasound and she is the only one that walked away with a slip of paper revealing the gender. She then did a little shopping and wrapping and we all sat down together to learn the baby's gender. Here is how it went down in photos.

Quick family photo before finding out if we were on team pink or team blue (for the record, I thought boy and Eric thought girl).

Blue!! It's a boy!! So excited to be surrounded by boys!! A girl's dream. Baby Boy is due 3/26/12.

Luke is gearing up for his role as big brother!

Watching over his little brother's bunny.

Halloween 2011

The great pumpkin carving for Halloween 2011 begins. Luke really got into it this year and loved looking for the seeds in the pumpkin and feeling the gooshy-ness of the pumpkin's insides. Then he enjoyed helping Daddy carve some fun faces to make it into a jack-o-lantern.

Notice any resemblance?!? :)

And then Halloween night was a whole new experience for Luke. This year he wore a special costume - a leopard costume that is 35+ years old. Luke's Gram made it for his Uncle Mike when he was a little boy. It was a perfect fit! Not to mention that Luke looked super cute! Here he is collecting some of his loot!

Enjoying a cherry lollipop for the first time ever!

And a special little video of Luke on Halloween night! Enjoy!!

luke is 2 years old!

luke had a great 2nd birthday! it actually turned into more of a birthday "week" than one day, but that's the way it should be at this age! the week started off with his birthday party on october 1st and then we did a few other fun things during the week to celebrate.

we love that luke is two. we are completely humbled by the way God has been working in his life and how He has protected him and grown him so perfectly. luke's little (and sometimes very big!) personality is just so fun. at this stage in the game he loves all things sesame street (especially elmo), trains, airplanes, swimming, music, and spending time with his daddy. he's now sleeping in a toddler bed and enjoying his big boy freedom. he also has a lot of words and while we still have to translate a lot of what he says for others, we know what he's trying to communicate 90% of the time. we look forward to seeing how luke changes over this next year and all the fun things in store for him.

our 2 year old birthday boy!

luke's 2nd birthday party wouldn't have been complete without his dearest friends, elmo and cookie!

birthday treats (from sweet mandy b's, of course)!

luke isn't shy about digging into his cake this year!

birthday luke and his mommy and daddy.

we had even more birthday celebration the day after his party as eric was heading out of town for the week and would be gone for luke's actual birthday. and of course, elmo, cookie, big bird, and gram (or Bam, as luke calls her) were in on the action.

luke and his new train table! choo-choo!

then on monday we spent the morning at Goebbert's pumpkin farm. we had a beautiful day and luke enjoyed going from one activity to the other.

running through the pumpkin tunnel.

luke said he wanted to go for a pony ride...

...but once we got in the ring, he didn't want to get on the pony, so we just watched from the side-lines. good thing they give refunds! we'll try again next year.

luke is on his quest to find the perfect pumpkin.

then on wednesday we took luke to the "all aboard diner" for a fun birthday treat. trains, trains, everywhere! the train right in front of us even delivered our food.

on luke's actual birthday we went and had birthday breakfast at starbucks (luke's favorite - and mommy's too)! luke got to wear his pjs and we had a relaxing morning of breakfast sandwiches and milk.

at the end of the week, luke decided that he liked being two and that he is going to take his second year head on!

goggles!

luke's first schaumburg septemberfest parade

watching the parade and cheering on the firetrucks, the high school bands, and local businesses.

luke figures out what a local parade is all about!

charleston 2011

we went on our second annual bridges/johnson trip to charleston, south carolina and had a blast. luke and will are on the verge of turning two in october and they had a blast at the beach, pool, and hanging around the house together. we all enjoyed a week of fun, sun, and relaxation and can't wait for our third annual trip in 2012!

this was the house we stayed in this year. it was gorgeous and had every amenity we could ask for, including a pool in the back yard, an outdoor shower, and tons of outdoor toys for the boys.

we went for a walk on the beach one early evening and luke had so much fun playing in the water. he definitely loves the beach!

luke and will are ready for the beach and could actually be mistaken for twins too - same rash guards, same crocs!

luke takes a dip in the little pool that daddy made in the sand.

best buds.

and after a long day of playing in the sun and surf, luke and will like to relax with some trains, cars, and trucks. a perfect way to unwind!

luke loves the beach and dancing with his shadow. enjoy the show!