Funny "Sam-isms"

Our little Sam is such a character. He is constantly putting smiles on our faces. He is very matter of fact, and unfortunately (sometimes) repeats just what we say. I'm so glad that we don't cuss, because everyone would know it!
Here are a few funny ones that I wanted to share:

I had an appt with the dermatologist. My mom's friend Coleen works there and came out to see Alex.
Coleen to Sam: "Oh, aren't you a handsome boy. And look how cute your little brother is."
Sam: "Yeah, but he's a pill!"
Lady in the waiting room: laughing "I have a couple of those too!"

Christmas Eve party at Hamma's house, his cousin Alan brought his friend, who is a girl, but they're keeping it cool because he's leaving on a mission in March. Sam was sitting on Alan's lap.
Girlfriend whispering to Alan: "Is he tooting?"
Alan: "Sam did you toot?"
Sam: "No, it was your girlfriend!"

Christmas morning phone call to Bon-bon. It was a long one about all that he'd gotten, so I'll skip to the funny part.
Grandma: "Did Alex get some presents too?"
Sam: "Yep. He's been a pill and Santa still brought him presents!"

In case you can't tell, I think I call Alex a pill, more than I call him his name. There are worse things I could say though.
Sam thank you for bringing a smile to our faces each day. You are such a joy to have in our family. The funny things you say always make us smile. We love you Sammy!

Merry Christmas

We had such a wonderful Christmas again this year. We were fortunate enough to have healthy family so that we could all attend Christmas parties together. It was so much fun!
We had the annual Hood family Christmas party on Christmas Eve this year. There was lots of great food, fun games and good laughs.



Christmas morning was a lot of fun as well. Sam, of course, had a ball! He had been out and peeked before waking us up. Go figure. At least he didn't open anything without us.


All of the gifts were a hit! Sam says, "Santa's a pretty smart guy to bring me this!" He's such a funny little kid. One of the favorite gifts was a rifle that has bullets.


The Star Wars Legos were also a huge hit!

Alex had a great day too. Of course, all he wanted was the paper, just like any other baby. You would think we as parents would learn to save our money and just give them paper, but he'll enjoy all his toys later.

Isn't he cute? And, boy he is getting big!

Alex loves to stand up by the couch and play with toys, still hates his tummy, and is still a bit tipsy when sitting solo, but all in all, is doing great!

We have been so blessed this year. We have had such a great year with lots of smiles and fun. It was so fun to spend our Christmas with our family. Our Savior has done so much for us and we were so happy to celebrate His birth.

12 Days of Christmas Conclusion

Day 12: 12 Drummers Drumming. Thank Heavens we only got one drum! Great movies and a couple of toys for the boys!

It was so much fun to be the recipients of this. Once again, if the people responsible for this read our blog- we cannot thank you enough! The time spent in preparing for this was unbelievable. The cute ideas and gifts were amazing. The extra gift given on Day 11 was incredible! Thank you for coming out in the bitter, bitter cold to give us something to look forward to each day. We are so very blessed to have such kind, thoughtful and giving people around us who bless us every day of the year.

12 Days of Christmas continued.........

Day 4: Four Calling Birds, their deep meaning is lost, so they're throwing in the towel. Home for the holidays, the place to be sitting by the "fire" with family.

Day 5: Nothing to say, except..mmmmmm Krispy Kremes!!!

Day 6: Six Geese-a-laying, okay, so chickens, but once again, YUM!

Day 7: Seven "Swans"-a-swimming. Too cute, and Sam has had a ball in the tub!

Day 8: Eight Maids-a-milking. I have to say, this is now our new favorite cocoa!

Day 9: Nine ladies dancing. Too big a crowd, so instead, music for us to enjoy.

Day 10: Ten Lords-a-leaping, they got stuck in a snowdrift, so we have to use our imagination, and enjoy these things for our New Year's Celebration.

Day 11: Eleven Pipers piping- more fun for Sam, and something to bless our family!

Stay tuned for the last day. This has been a lot of fun, and those in charge have been so VERY generous! If they're reading, may our Heavenly Father bless you as you've blessed us!

Merry Christmas

By the way, this is our Christmas card above! We were a little bit, okay a lot disorganized this year, and we didn't get cards mailed out. If we had done it, this is the picture you would've gotten. It turned out better than we expected actually. We had the camera on the piano bench, and were actually pretty amazed that we're all looking and look fairly decent! We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and a happy and safe New Year! We love you!
**The Hood's**

Johnson Family Christmas Party

Last night we had the annual Johnson Family Christmas Party at Bon-bon and Pa's house. We had a really great time! There was tons of GREAT food(too much actually), fun games, funny slides from when we were kids and most importantly Santa made an appearance! It was so fun to see the kids faces light up as he came into the room! It's amazing how fast Santa (usually) can put a smile on a kid's face. He spent time teasing with the kids and brought them some awesome presents. They were thrilled with them. Way to go Santa!
Another really great thing about the party is that we all got to be there together as a family! We decided that we would take Alex with us. He has been doing great, and our family is wonderful about understanding his needs. I know that they all wanted to hold him, and I really wish we could pass him around, but they gave him the space he needed to hopefully avoid the passing of any germs. Luckily, everyone is healthy and that was a huge help too! We have such a great family who takes the time to think of Alex's well being. Thank you to all of you! We were so happy to be there together!
There were so many pictures from the party, and it's hard to pick which ones to put on, so I just did a slideshow. It will take a minute, because I think there's about 40 pics. Thank you to Bon-bon and Pa for the great party! We love you!

Oh and by the way, yes, those are pantyhose we are sticking on our head. You stuff them with balloons and make them "reindeer antlers". Way to go Ryan for being the best one at stuffing nylons (don't worry, firing your gun a few times will release enough testosterone to cancel that out!).
I just wanted to include this picture all by itself. It typically takes an act of congress to get my dad to smile for a picture, so I thought I would post it. Caught ya!

Ever Have One of Those Days?

No-- he didn't feed himself! It just looks that way!

Belly Bashing with Dad

Sam loves to Belly Bash! He loved to tease with me when I was pregnant and try to bash with me. Now a pillow in the shirt works just fine!


Still fun, even if you get knocked on your behind!

Belly Bashing and wrestling are a favorite pasttime at our house. The two usually go hand in hand!

EEG Results

Because of Alex's seizures that he had in the hospital, he has still been on the medication to control that. We went in for a repeat EEG yesterday. If it came back normal, we could start to wean him off of that medication. Well, results are in, and the EEG was completely normal. What a blessing!! Our Heavenly Father never ceases to amaze me with His goodness and love! We will begin decreasing the medication tomorrow, but it will take several weeks to be completely off of it. You cannot stop it cold turkey. Here are a couple of pics of what Alex looked like during his test. Amazingly enough, he cooperated and slept when he was supposed to!! I was shocked!!


Some cute grins and crazy hair after having it washed to get the goo out. Good thing Sam wasn't there to see!!


The EEG was @ 9:30 a.m.,then we had an appt. with the Nurse Practitioner, but not until 1:30 p.m. So here a couple of cute pics of Alex hanging out in the car. Sitting by himself too! He is still a little bit unsteady, but so much improved!


Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for our family and especially little Alex. Once again he is proof that prayers work! Oh and by the way-- Fatty, I mean Alex weighs just over 19 lbs now!! What a kid!

12 Days of Christmas....

We have been chosen by someone to receive the 12 days of Christmas! I don't know why we were chosen, but we are thrilled! It's been really fun so far. I was going to wait and post all of them at the end, but decided that would end up taking forever, so I will do them a few at a time.
They each come with thoughts that are funny, and also tie into our Savior's life and mission. If the person (people) who are doing this read our blog, please know how much we appreciate this, and how fun it has been to be a part of this!
Day 1: "Pear Tree" with pears for eating!

Day 2: Turtles and Doves!

Day 3: Hen (chicken) Soup, Bread and Soup Bowls! So cute!

So much fun! Stay tuned............more to come!

Busy Day for Sam

Well, since we were sort of snowbound this morning, I decided to have Sam do his Gingerbread House. Yes, I took the easy way out and bought the kit from Costco, but it pleased him.

The kit gives you so much stuff, he was getting kind of bored at the end. By that point Dad was home from work and Sam was much more interested in wrestling and getting out in the snow. Here is a pic of the finished product, and a dang cute boy!

Sam and Gary went outside and shoveled the walks. After they were done they gathered the snow together and built a snow cave. SAM WAS THRILLED!! (in case you can't tell by the grin)



He's very excited that he's able to sit up in it. He hopes it will last for a few weeks, which it might if the weather keeps up.

Today was also our ward Christmas party. Sam loves to go to any kind of a party, so he wouldn't let us forget about this one. Gary and Alex stayed home and Sam and I headed to the party. We had a great time. The best part was that Santa showed up. Sam sat pretty patiently in line, but was getting irritated about all of the pushing and shoving. This was a big deal for Sam. Have you ever seen The Christmas Story? Well, Sam is sort of like that-- it's very important that you let Santa know what you want.

Actually, I think he's more worried about being put on the naughty list if he doesn't stand there politely. I think I scared him too, because I told him that Santa brings his elves with him and they hide around the room to make sure everyone is acting nice.


Although I could tell Santa's beard wasn't on very tight, it seemed to please him. We had a great day. Our kids are so fun and bring so much joy to our lives. Even though some days life is a lot harder with them, life was so boring without them!! What sweet angels we have been blessed with.

Best Big Brother

Little Alex is so funny! He LOVES his big brother. Sam loves to play with him, and Alex just stares at him. He grins, and laughs at him, but the majority of a time he just stares. He can't get enough of him, whenever Sam is doing anything, Alex has his eye on him. I'm not sure, maybe he doesn't trust him, or is just wondering "what's he's going to do to me next?". I just love to watch the two of them together.



Sam has just discovered that he can push Alex around in his walker. Sam giggles, and giggles while he does it. He has to take his socks off so that he has good grip. Alex has a great time, but you'd never know it by a smile. He gets his arms flapping and flapping. Sam has probably inflicted some whiplash onto Alex, but it's so hard to get mad at Sam when he's giggling away. Besides, what's a little whiplash when you've been through all that Alex has!!

Fat and Happy!

Alex is getting so big. I can't believe it!

Look at that double chin!

He went in for his RSV shot on Tuesday morning. Because of his weight, it had to be done in two shots-one in each leg. It's nice though, they get two people to do the shots at the same time, so once it's over, it's over. He was not very happy about it as you can guess. But it's done, and he won't get his next one until Jan. The shot is once a month and only runs about $950.00 each time. Chump change! Thankfully, our co-pay is only about $525.00 each time. An even bigger blessing, our max out of pocket is $2000. The shots go until May, so once again, we will have no problem reaching that again this year!
He's growing like a weed. He weighs 17 lbs 11 oz, and was just under 30 in long. He is deciding that he doesn't like bottles very much anymore. He eats about 3 oz, and then takes his tongue and pushes it out, and there's no getting it back in! He will then happily sit there and eat a huge bowl of cereal instead.
They told us not to start him on any new foods for 6 weeks after surgery. Well, today marks 5 weeks, and he has been eating carrots for the last two days. He pulls a funny face at first, like "what the heck is this", and then eats and eats. We figured it's close enough and if he's not taking as much formula, then why not?! We've come to realize with Alex, that he's going to do it his way! Pick your battles, right?
Aren't they sweet when they're sleeping? We went out and delivered our neighbor gifts last night. We had Alex so bundled, he could hardly move. He was warm and that's all that mattered. Obviously he wasn't cold, he went right to sleep on the walk.