She is Mine

Today my eldest turned five years old.

How clearly I remember the day she was born. She arrived late, just like her baby sister, and with little fuss, also just like her little sister.

She is such a joy to me. I couldn’t imagine my life without her, and I don’t even want to try.

She is so sweet. She is tender-hearted. There is not a mean bone in her body.

She is so smart. I mean: hardcore intelligent. I love that about her. Her intelligence is a big part of what makes up her personality.

She is not the “easiest” child. She has some “quirks” that often leave me confounded and frustrated, but I wouldn’t change a thing about her. She is who she is and I am crazy about her.

There is a song by Mindy Gledhill that so accurately describes my relationship with my Megan. I cried and cried the first time I heard it.

I don’t mind your odd behavior
It’s the very thing I love
If you were an ice cream flavor
You would be my favorite one

My imagination sees you
Like a painting by Van Gogh
Starry Nights and bright sunflowers
Follow you where you may go

Oh, I’ve loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day

You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It’s not about your scars
It’s all about your heart

You’re a butterfly held captive
Small and safe in your cocoon
Go on you can take your time
Time is said to heal all wounds

Like a lock without a key
Like a mystery without a clue
There is no me
If I can not have you

I love my daughter and each and every unique thing about her: the good and the bad. She is certainly one of a kind.

And she is mine.

Party Time! Excellent!

Tomorrow is Megan’s fifth birthday.

I will probably write another post tomorrow about her actual birthday, but we had her party today.

This is the first time that Megan had a “real” birthday party. For years 1,2, and 3, we lived in Iowa with no family near. Year 4, we kinda had a party with my sister and her family. But this time we actually invited all nearby family members as well as a couple of friends from the ward.

We did a water party, complete with a couple of kiddie pools, sprinklers, water balloons, sidewalk chalk, and a slip n’ slide. The kids had a blast.

Megan had such a good time. She got some awesome gifts, and she likely won’t soon forget her fifth birthday celebrations. Thank you to all the friends and family who made her feel so special today.

Megan shares a birthday with my super awesome cousin, Clayton. Happy Birthday tomorrow, Claytron!!! Hope it’s a good one!

Megan-Mind

Megan loves to play Wii. She has always loved the Wii. I’m not sure what it is about it, I could probably make a few assumptions, but we’ve allowed her to play often since it is something that she enjoys so much. In fact, I recently read a study that stated that it is good for young girls to play video games, especially with their fathers.

“Young girls who played age-appropriate video games with their parents were better behaved, felt more connected to their families, were less aggressive and less likely to be depressed…” (article can be found: here.)

Almost every day, Megan spends a little bit of time playing on the Wii. A few favorite games of hers are: “Wii Fit Plus” and “Wii Music”. More often than not, Adam and I join her; it’s an activity we all enjoy together as a family. But sometimes, the Wii is a perfect activity to keep Megan entertained when I am otherwise engaged (like with her ADORABLE little sister).

So…the point of this story. There is an activity on the Wii called “Everybody Votes”. On “Everybody Votes” Wii users worldwide are asked how they would answer various questions (ex. Which would you enjoy more? A sunny day or a rainy day?) and you can enter your answer as well as predict how the majority of people would answer. Megan really enjoys this activity. She checks for new polls daily, as well as checks the results of previous polls.

Another thing that you can do on “Everybody Votes” is submit possible poll questions for users to answer. Megan likes to enter in silly things and then submit them. They usually don’t make sense, like she’ll just enter her name as the poll question and then Jane’s name or “blue” for the answers. She thinks she is hilarious.

Today Megan wanted to show me her poll question submission. Expecting something silly or nonsensical, I was surprised to see find this on the television:

She created a few more questions before the night was over:

It is pretty darn impressive that a four-year-old can sit on the couch and make up these questions, and type them out(including correct spelling AND punctuation), as well as come up with clever and applicable answers: all by herself.

Adam and I continue to be amazed (and THRILLED) with the incredible things our girl can do.

She is awesome.

On a related note, we watched “Megamind” tonight, and when the title came up, Megan said, “Don’t they mean ‘Megan-Mind?”

And then laughed her head off.

Worth 1000 Words

My brother-in-law (on the Marshall side) took a formal Johanson family photograph during our recent family reunion.

Anthony did such a great job and we were all very pleased with how the photo turned out. Megan was SO SICK when the pictures was taken, but she was SUCH A GOOD SPORT. I sure love that girl of mine!

The last time we took a “formal” photo with the Johanson family was December 2006. It is fun to see how the family has grown and how much everyone has changed!

Thanks again Anthony!

Johanson Family December 2006

Johanson Family May 2011

Meal Time!

I am determined to instill good eating habits in my Jane.

I am doing everything “by the book” with this little one, with hopes and prayers that we can avoid the same mealtime heartache that we experienced/continue to experience with Megan.

I have been watching for signs and cues of readiness, and I think Jane has been “ready” to try her first bit of “real food” for a couple of weeks now. Her age is right on target to begin, and she is very interested in food. I wanted to start her last week, but with all the illness we are dealing with, I had to hold off. Tonight she got her first little bowl of cereal, and she did AWESOME. I have no doubts that my sweet Jane will fulfill this mama’s fantasies of raising a good eater!

Getting ready...she has no idea what's in store!

Wondering what's going on...

Trying to decide what she thinks...

She likes it!

All cleaned up after polishing off the entire bowl. Don't worry Jane, you can have more tomorrow!