Mark, Tamara, and Grace Johnson

Happy Easter!

Playing Catch-Up

The big news around here: Mark turned 30!! Before Mark's birthday, we talked about our 20's and if that decade was all we had hoped it would be. We decided that it surpassed what we had hoped. We have traveled quite a bit (Brazil, Hawaii, Cayman Islands, Mexico, several states in the US), both earned Masters, got married, and had a baby. We feel very blessed for our opportunites and for the gift of our little Gracie. In the course of the coversation, Mark said that he has always wanted to learn to play the guitar but never has. A brand new Fender acoustic guitar is what is in the large box... Happy Birthday, my love. Every day with you is a gift.

I pray that your 30's are a time of spiritual and relationship growth, that you reach career goals, and that you also have some wonderful surprises along the way. I love you!

It's hard to believe that we are well into the middle of March. As all the Michiganders know, we have paid our winter weather dues and at about this time of the year, we all have spring fever! Grace is 18 months old and is constantly surprising me with the way she is developing, mentally and physically. Already this month we have celebrated my Grandma's 85th birthday, my father-in-law's birthday, my sister-in-law's 32nd birthday, and Mark's 30th birthday. Grace went to a party of her own - a Princess Party celebrating Faith King's 3rd birthday. It was a wonderful party that my friend Veronica threw and the kids had so much fun!

As my 8 year old niece Anderson likes to say, "Behold, Grace the Bold."

This is a facial expression we see on a daily basis when we tell her "no" or don't let her play with something she wants. She is a very expressive child. She must get that from Mark. In this picture, sweet little Ella Harrison wants the same chair Grace wants.

Veronica King brought out the bubbles, one of Grace's favorite things!

Uh oh, kissin' cousins! Here are Grace and Jackson at my Grandma's birthday party. They are 5 months apart to the day and yet Jackson (younger) is a little bigger than Grace.

Tiffany and I drove out to St. Joseph to visit with my brother and his family. Grace loved it! She cracked up at everything Anderson did and told Wyatt "no!" more times than I can count. I guess she has figured out that boys are more rambunctious. Here are Anderson and Grace. Anderson is such a big cousin - she was constantly watching out for Grace as well as entertaining her. Wyatt helped with that as well. They all played "Ring Around the Roses" about a million times for Grace.

On a swing but intently watching her cousins on the merry-go-round.

I love this picture.

Places to go...People to see...

16 Months and Counting...

Life with Grace is more fun every day! She is such a sweet, lovable, fun-loving little girl (if I do say so myself). These are a few of my favorite things:

She has an evolving love for bananas. She will point at them no matter what else she is eating and loves to hold the banana and take a great big bite!
When she sees an animal, she either makes the noise it makes or says, "E-I-E-I" - the O doesn't quite make it.
She squeezes her lips together and gives "fishy kisses," puts her nose to mine and gives "Eskimo kisses," or just gives me a plain ole' kiss with the mmmwwwwaaa noise and all!
She loves raisins and grapes. She will eat just about as many as I give her.
If she sees you are getting her something that she wants, she does a little happy dance, complete with tapping her toes and a head bob.
She says, "Ma" until I answer and then when say, "Yes, Grace?," she babbles a stream of incoherent speech that makes perfect sense to her.
She loves to drink from a cup like a big person.
She start many of her baby-talk sentences with, "Ummm" and then clicks her tongue.
Sometimes she says something so funny to her that she cracks up. I really need to get that on video. I can't help but laugh with her.
She loves to clap her hands.
Her nemesis is the car seat. There are times that only Daddy's singing puts her at ease.
She is a smart little cookie and can point to her hair, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, arms, hands, belly, and feet.
She has figured out how to put her hat on her head and likes to walk around the house with it on. She likes to put laundry on her head too, for that matter. (see below)
She is currently calling Mark, "Mar". We keep trying to reinforce "Daddy" and she consistently will call him "Mar". We try not to laugh every time she does it!

Our dear friends, the Burchams, came over last week. Grace had fun playing with sweet little Brooke and Annie. After dinner the girls were walking around playing. Melissa and I were sitting on the couch and Grace walked into the living room, holding and eating a whole piece of bread. Melissa and I quickly jumped up to see where Grace got the bread. We walked into the kitchen and this is what we saw:

We had fed them dinner a few hours earlier but I guess they needed a snack... They're suprisingly self-sufficient!

Happy Holidays!

It's time for updates! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! We spent the holidays in town and celebrated with friends and family. On Christmas Eve, Jim and Amy Lewis came over for poppyseed chicken and a movie. Christmas morning was relaxing and fun. Grace was hesitant to rip the wrapping paper (since we try to teach her the other 364 days a year to not rip paper) but she gradually became more involved in opening presents. She was so excited to see her new toys and saw the need to multi-task. At one point, she was scribbling on a Magni-Doodle with one hand and pushing buttons on her new "laptop" with another hand! She is so drawn to our real laptop and always wants to "type". So, Santa brought a Sesame Street laptop that says number, letters, shapes, and colors. She loves it!
We went to my parents after we opened presents and ate french toast casserole. My extended family came over my parents for Christmas dinner. It was wonderful to visit with family! The next few days we visited with my brother and his family. We had such a nice time. I miss them already!
Mark and I went to a wedding on New Year's Eve. A good friend from work, Sarah Lynch, got married and then had a beautiful reception that also served to celebrate New Year's Eve. It was a blast! Before midnight, they handed out hats, streamers, and horns. They had a large screen where they showed the ball drop in Time's Square. Mark and I stayed at the hotel in Ann Arbor where the reception was held and Grace spent the night with my parents. It was my first time away from her overnight (except when I was in the hospital). Grace did wonderfully and I'm sure she would have been happy to spend a few more nights there! Grace adores my mom and will reach for her even when I'm holding her. All in all, we had a wonderful holiday season!

Opening presents at Grandma and Papa Tittle's house

Boys will be boys... Wyatt loves to wrestle with Uncle Mark!

Grace and her big cousin, Anderson. This is Grace's new "camera smile." What a ham!

Grace and her big cousins...

Mark and I celebrating New Year's Eve

"Happy New Year," from the ER PA's at Royal Oak Beaumont! Sarah looked so beautiful!

Wait A Minute...Santa Who?

Mark, Grace, and I just returned home from taking Grace to get her picture taken with Santa Claus at Somerset. I was torn between wanting to lounge on the couch all evening since I am still not feeling well from this cold and needing a picture for our Christmas cards. Three and a half hours later, we're home with pictures of a very distressed 15-month old with Santa Claus. And now I'm going to bed (with dreams of sugarplums dance in my head???)

Baby Mullet no more...

I recently took Grace to get her first haircut! Her hair wasn't very long but the back of her hair was growing faster than the rest = a little mullet. The occasion was so momentous to me that I asked my cousin Chelsea to do it. Chelsea has been a hairstylist for a few years and has been working out of her basement since she had her adorable son, Jackson. Chelsea did a wonderful job! I was shocked (and of course SO PROUD) at how well Grace did. She sat on a Bumbo on a chair and looked at a book while Chelsea cut her hair. It was like she had had it done a hundred times before...

Being a ham, or just reacting to the water in the spray bottle...