Twins 1st Birthday Party

Stella and Madelyn are ONE year old!!!

We had such a wonderful time at their birthday party this Saturday! Everyone was there, all the grandparents, godmommy, aunties, uncles, cousins and friends! The twins had a great time and loved smashing cake in their faces (especially Madelyn). It's so hard to believe they are already a year old. The time has flown by.

Date Night - SUCCESS!

What a wonderful weekend we had!

First, we had some lovely pictures taken by Amanda Manupella (A.M. Photography) over at our friend Morgan's house. I can't wait to post the final versions when she sends them. They were overall cooperative but not in the way you would hope during a photo shoot. They kept crawling all over the place and sticking the ornaments and lights into their mouths, but I am confident that Amanda was able to capture some cute moments. At least there were no major meltdowns. The rest of Saturday was spent at home snuggling up to our little bees. Grandpa stopped by for a little while and Stella took a few major steps towards me while he was there. We were all so excited, she's growing so fast!

Sunday was filled with more snuggle time and a trip to WalMart. Thankfully the one by our new house is quiet and clean. You don't need shots updated to enter, unlike our old WalMart. We filled our fridge and got started on a few gifts.

Then it was time for DATE NIGHT!!!!! Doherty and Julie came over around 5 pm and we hung for a few before heading out. We drove down the oceanfront to our favorite little italian place, Il Giardinos. The wait was 30 minutes and the service was a tad messy - but it forced us to slow down and enjoy the time we had together. We shared a glass of red wine and some foccacia bread. Then came our entree...Shrimp and Crab linguine with a tomato cream cognac sauce. SHUT YOUR FACE it was so good!!!!



I loved that pasta and I love my husband - great combo!!!

Now its back to work...

Love, Sarah

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

The BIG QUESTION......

What to do this weekend?!?!

I was really hoping to get our family out to the Great Bridge Christmas parade, but after checking the weather - I'm just not so sure it's a good idea. Little twins out in the 40 degree night for a few hours (past their bedtime) just doesn't sound like a ton of fun to me anymore. Who knows, we might change our minds but staying in next to our cozy Christmas tree just appeals a tad bit more.

I'm hoping to snag a few Christmas photos of the girls this weekend. The dilemma is how I'm going to get them to sit still long enough to snap one decent image of BOTH the girls looking at the camera, one without their finger in their nose is preferred. Wish me luck on that.

On Sunday, Harvey and I are doing DATE NIGHT in honor of his birthday. He wants to go to Il Giardinos down at the oceanfront. I can't complain a bit as this is one my favs as well! They have the best crab and shrimp pasta you could ever dream of.

Speaking of food, I've got to start thinking about what to make for the twin's Birthday Party. We will have almost 30 people attending (how did that happen?) so I want to make a few great things to eat.

Amber is making these (they ROCK)...



SAUSAGE STARS
2 c. (1 lb.) cooked crumbled sausage
1 1/2 c. grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c. grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 c. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced ripe olives
1/2 c. chopped red pepper
1 pkg. fresh or frozen won ton wrappers (or egg rolls wrappers cut in 4ths)
Vegetable oil
Blot sausage dry with paper towels and combine with Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, salad dressing, olives and red pepper. Lightly grease a mini (or regular) muffin tins and press 1 wrapper in each cup. Brush with oil, bake 5 minutes until golden. Remove from tins, place on baking sheet and fill with sausage mixture.

Bake 5 minutes at 350°F or until bubbly.

Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

Thanksgiving Pics

Here are some pictures from our Lake Gaston weekend over the Thanksgiving holiday. The twins had so much fun and the weather was spectacular!!! Aunt Jeannie was in town dishing out tons of sugar and Aunt Doris and Gana stopped by to give the girls a squeeze, too. They are the most loved twins ever!!!

Wow, It's been a while.

It sure has been FOREVER since my last post.

It's hard to believe that time has flown by and the girls are only a few weeks away from being ONE year old! They are so big and adorable, we just enjoy every second we spend with them.

Madelyn has 6 teeth to report. Four on the top and two giant ones on the bottom.



Stella has 2 teeth on the bottom, but her recent drool leads us to believe that more are on the way.



Neither of the twins are walking yet, but they are close! They are saying a few words, the list being:

DaDa - all the time
MaMa - only when they are upset it seems
Good - or "Goo"

They are understanding a ton more than that which is really fun to watch. If you tell Stella to clap she will and Maddie will kiss on command.

Next post will be about Thanksgiving!!!!

Love you all,

Sarah

General Update

It has been forever since my last post! If I told you it was hard to make time to write regular entries with twins – would you believe me? Probably so, but that is still no excuse. I will try to get better about keeping this site updated.

Update on the BEES...
On Friday they will be 10 weeks old, can you believe it?





We just took them to their 2 month wellness check up today at the doctor’s office and it was a great appointment. Stella is weighing in at 10 lbs. 6 oz. and Madelyn is just a tad heavier at 10 lbs. 8 oz. They had their first round of shots and so far so good!



They are starting to do some really cool stuff! We are hearing them coo and make a ton of little noises now. When they cannot see each other they communicate back and forth with these little shrieks and it is so fun to watch. Stella has rolled over from her front to her back and they both are holding their heads up like strong little turtles! Their favorite thing at the moment is their Activity Mat and they like to bat at the toys that swing over their heads. At the beginning of last week they started sleeping in their nursery and not beside our bed. The sleep together in a crib and start on opposite ends but end up right next to each other by morning. For the most part they are sleeping 3-4 hours at a time but we’ve had a few 6 hour stretches that we are very thankful for.

We have been able to take them out on the town a little more now. We met Dad at the park near his work the other day for a picnic lunch and got to introduce the girls to all the folks at Witt Mares! We have made several shopping trips to Lynnhaven Mall and to Target. For their 2nd Month Birthday Party we went with Meme and Papa to Plaza Azteca for some Mexican – YUM!







Update on Sarah...
My health has finally got to a stable place! The doc is still trying to get my blood thinners regulated but that won’t be an issue much longer. I go back in for a CT Scan towards the beginning of April to see if my Blood Clot has changed or gone away! Once its gone they can remove this filter in my IVC vein and we can be done with this whole ordeal!

I’m back to work and it is bitter sweet. I hate leaving my beautiful girls, but its really nice to have a routine again. :)




Update on Harvey...
Harvey went back to work full time on February 1st. We were so lucky that Witt Mares gave him so much time off to handle things at home. He is the best father that any family could hope for! He is currently out of town this week and we sure do miss him terribly. Thankfully, he tells us that he won’t be traveling as much as he was and we sure hope that’s the case!




Overall the Johnson’s are back on top! We are really enjoying our babies and all the time we are spending with our incredible friends and family.

Love to you all,
Sarah & Harvey

Update: Hospital Stay

So I have officially been at Norfolk General now for 12 days. It has been quite a bumpy ride; however one that everyone believes is coming to an end very soon.

I came in 12 days ago with an infection and a blood clot. The doctor's treated me with an antibiotic (which we just discovered I had a drug reaction to) and a blood thinner (which they just acknowledged was the wrong dose for the first 5 days). The blood clot got larger due to the wrong dosing and I was at risk for it breaking off and heading north to either my heart or lungs - which could have been bad. In order to prevent this, I had a procedure done where they went in through a vein in my neck and placed a temporary filter in the main vein to catch the clot if it started to head north.

Meanwhile, the fevers persisted and tons of tests were being done to figure out why. One of the theories is that I could be having an allergic reaction to the antibiotic thus creating extended fevers. So, they changed my antibiotic 36 hours ago and I am proud to say that I have been fever free for 24 hours!

The docs are going to keep me monitored for another 24 hours before sending me home with a 3 month supply of blood thinner injections. I pray that I do not spike another fever as that would mean more time in this room and I'm sure more tests to perform.

Hoping that tomorrow I will be updating this blog from the comfort of my couch with my girls in my arms!

Love to you all!

Sarah