Comfort or Style?

My sister in law sent me these pictures and I just had to share them. Joseph asked me why I wanted to be "gruesome" and I told him that they were too shocking to keep to myself. How willing are you to sacrifice comfort for style?

I entered Swen into a My Kids' Mom (or Dad) Totally Rocks contest on my friend, Heidi's, blog http://www.franticallysimple.com/. I write my feelings so much better than I say them, so I'm afraid that a lot of the time Swen doesn't know how great I think he is. So, here's a little tribute to my main man:

Sometimes I feel like I have 5 kids, although I've only given birth to 4. This is because my kids' dad is a kid at heart. He is louder than all 4 put together. He tickles, wrestles, teases, and laughs. He insists on doing risky flips on the tramp. He constantly shows us some new "move" he's figured out. He turns off the lights and has light saber fights with the boys. He loves to play, but he also dedicates every moment he has to showing them the kind of people he wants them to become. He takes them along when he helps neighbors, he teaches them from the scriptures, and he includes them in daily prayer. He has it all when it comes to being a devoted father. My kids' dad totally rocks!

The winner gets a box of personalized fruit roll-ups! Cool! The winners are chosen randomly, but I'm still planning what message I would want on my treat. Go enter the contest for yourself, but first, tell me what YOU would want YOUR fruit roll-up to say...

JOSEPH... a.k.a. Joe, Joe-B, Scooby-doo, Joe-Bear, Joe-B-yo-B, Jo-Jo, Joe-Bear-Doonk

In honor of Joseph's 8 birthday last Sunday, this post is all about him. This guy is one in a million, and he has been looking forward to his 8th birthday for HIS WHOLE LIFE! I thought I'd quote from his journal throughout the years.

Aug 27, 2000 (4 mo.) "Joseph ... has the loudest cry in history. It's unbelievable the sound that he can project out of those tiny lungs. He gets really bored because he can't entertain himself yet. But then when he smiles and laughs, you'd have a hard time believing that he's ever ornery. His laugh lights up the world. I love to watch him sleep. He's such an angel. Tonight he fell asleep sucking his thumb while I was rocking him. I stared at his beautiful face with a lot of love in my heart. Moments like that make being a mother wonderful."

Aug 30, 2001 (1 1/2 years old) "Joseph is always cuddly. He makes me smile because whenever he sees something soft, he'll dive for it, put his thumb in his mouth, and lie down."

Feb. 19, 2003 (almost 3) "Joseph is at such a fun stage right now. No one can believe that he's only 2 years old. He's super tall, and he speaks really well. He loves to be friendly to other people. He'll follow people around talking and talking and talking. He never stops. He's always asking, "What are you doing? Oh. Sitting there? Oh." He's a big tease. He'll do something wrong, then he'll tattle on himself in a very tattling tone. "I spit on the floor." "I pee-peed in my pants." "I poured water on the floor."

"He says the funniest things. A couple of weeks ago, Joseph rode with Grandma and Grandpa Tadje to SLC. G & G said that Joe talked the entire time (as usual) so Grandpa said, "Jo-Jo you are such a jabbermouth!" "No, Grandpa. I'm Jo-Jo, I'm a guy!" Then Grandpa asked, "Why are you so cute?" Joseph shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I don't know. I just do it!"

July 27, 2004 (4 years old) Every morning Joe finds me and tells me about his dreams. I usually have to limit the time because we've been doing a lot of morning activities. This morning I was really tired, so I decided to let him talk until he quit on his own. I wanted to see how long he'd actually go. He started at 9:05 am. He told me about baking a cake for his granny with fuzzy sugar, and lots of other strange things. Isaac came in at about 9:45, but Joe kept going. I fell in and out of sleep, but he kept on telling me his stories. At 10:04 Isaac begged Joe to stop so they could play, so Joe said one more sentence, then announced, "The end!" Whew! 59 minutes of made up stories!"

"Joe is still really cuddly. He would wear his spider man jammies all day, every day if he could. He likes to be "cozy". He still carries his little pillow with him, and cuddles in blankets even if it's 100 degrees outside."

"Another wonderful aspect of Joe's personality is his friendliness. He seeks people out and introduces himself enthusiastically. "Hi! I'm Joe. I'm 4!" He puts his four fingers one inch away from their eyes. "This is Isaac. He's 6, and that's my dad. He's 30!" Then, "How many are you? What's your name?" Everywhere we go, he entertains and says funny things with lots of facial expressions. On Sunday, some people in our new ward invited us over for Sunday dinner. After his 2nd roll, (and after his announcement that he didn't like roast beef very much) he stood up on his chair and said, "I want another roll. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?" He's so funny."

Sept. 16, 2004 (4 1/2) "Joe is so smart. He read his first book a couple of weeks ago. I'm trying to keep up with all of his questions. THEY NEVER END. Some are deep and profound like his questions about the devil, Heavenly Father, the curse of the Lamanites, how/where ants sleep, how videos are made, etc. But some are really annoying like, "Why is this blue?" and "Why was the chicken that I'm eating alive?" Sometimes I think I'm going out of my mind!"

Feb. 9, 2005 (almost 5) "On Monday, we took Alyssa to her 2 mo. check-up. Joseph passed the time by writing on the crinkle paper over the doctor's check-up table. He pushed too hard and wrote on the doctor's table accidentally. He was very scared. "I'm doomed!" he said, "Let's get out of here, let's run away. I'm doomed!" I told Joseph that he probably wouldn't get in trouble, but it would be better if he told the truth. He was scared at first, but then he knew it was a good choice. He opened the door and called the doctor into the room. He showed the Dr. his mistake and apologized. He also confessed to the nurse. I was very proud of him."

April 5, 2007 (almost 7) "Several months ago, your life goal was to make a lava suit. You were fascinated with lava and you asked endless questions about it. You finally came to the logical conclusion that it was going to be pretty impossible to find something to make a lava suit out of since lava is melted rock. You decided that lava would melt any material since it melts rock. Yesterday you told me that you're going to invent a medicine for people with type 2 diabetes. You are going to either find a cure or a medicine to prevent the disease. Good luck! If anyone can do it, you can!"


October 9, 2007 "Hey, Joe-man, wassup? You've been doing great in school. In the national test you took last year (we just got the results) you got 100% on everything except geometric shapes. I couldn't believe it! You rock!"

"You love to take time with Lincoln. You've always loved babies. He loves you, too. You always make him happy."

"In your spare time (and any time in between) you love to make CONSTANT loud noises- spitting, belching and loud "uuuuuuuuhhhhhh"s. You are such a vocal child! You also love to pretend with Ike, play games, jump, and listen to Radio Disney. Your favorite foods are taco soup and bar-b-cups. Your favorite movie is any watched with family, and your favorite job is toilets (really)! I love you, bud"

As you can see, Joe is quite an amazing kid. From the time he was born, I felt like he was just going through the motions of childhood because everyone has to. But inside I know he's a wise spiritual giant, who is much older than I am. I feel so privileged that he chose me to be his mother. Happy 8th Birthday, Joe!

Welcome Madelyn!

Hear ye, Hear ye! We would like to welcome another adorable cousin into the world. My sister, Carolyn, had her 5th child, sweet Madelyn, on April 21. After a long pregnancy filled with no energy and many ordeals, we are glad that she has finally arrived. We are SO SAD that she lives in Texas because we really want to give her hugs and pinch those adorable cheeks.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Next to arrive: Aiden (little fire)

ETA- June 17 (on big fire's birthday)

Explanation: My brother, Nate, has bright red hair, hence the nickname FIRE. He and Sarah have chosen to name their baby Aiden, which literally means little fire. I think it's SO COOL! And the fact that Aiden is due to come on Nate's birthday tops off the coolness.

OLD (er)

I was working out a few days ago next to a new neighbor of mine. We were asking the usual getting-to-know-you questions. Where did you grow up? How many kids do you have? Yada, yada, yada. Then she asked me how old I am. I answered "28" and she said, "Wow. I have a sister that's 28, too. She's 5 years older than me." Something in the way she said "wow" got me thinking about my age. I don't remember ever being looked at as the "old one." It's always been the opposite for me since I left my peers in the dust when it came to marriage and having babies. It was a strange sensation to be perceived as old. I don't really know if I liked it, unless her "wow" meant that I must have a lot of wisdom since I'm pushing 30.

I have to deal with perceptions of my age all the time. Here are some of the comments I have gotten:

Q: "You have a 9 year old? You don't look old enough to have a 9 year old."

A: "I'm not, but I do."

Q: "You have 4 kids? You look like you're 10 years old!"

A: "Thanks?"

Q: "How long have you been married? And how old is your oldest?" (Translation: Did you HAVE to get married?")

A: "Almost 11 years, and almost 10, and we decided to start our family right away (so you can stop those calculations going on in your head-everything was on the up&up)."

These comments all started with a desire to attend college at the tender age of 17 and 1 month. I was done with high school and ready to move on and grow up. Actually, I guess I thought that I already had grown up and I was far too mature for sport sewing classes and high school dances. My bishop warned me that if I went to institute I would meet a hubby. That proved to be prophetic. Swen and I went on our first date on February 21, and were engaged on May 11, married on July 29.

Being engaged at age 17 is no picnic. No sir. I had distant relatives telling me I had made the wrong choice. I had neighbors running after me and stopping my car to tell me that they had been discussing my situation, and they felt like I had made the wrong decision. To each of them I wanted to explain that what really mattered was that I KNEW I was doing the right thing through a series of powerful experiences with the spirit. But I just thanked them for their concern and moved forward with the plans. We have the best families in the world, however, they trusted us and knew that we were capable of receiving direction from the Lord in our important decision.

On my 18th birthday, I went through the temple. 6 days later I was married for time and all eternity to my true love. I had Isaac 1 month before I turned 19. For so long, I've been the "young one." When I meet people, they are usually older than I am even though I may be further down life's path. I guess I still see myself as being about 20. That's why my neighbor's "Wow" took me back a little. It has caused me to come to an important conclusion. I am now older than returned missionaries, and I am older than most newly-weds. It's strange, but true. I have also come to the conclusion that people don't think of me as a newly-wed anymore. They think I'm a mother of 4 who may even have advice to give. It's so weird to see myself in this new light. I don't think my cute neighbor meant all this by her simple exclamation, but I guess I'm glad for the epiphany.

...

P.S. This picture was taken 10 days before Lincoln was born, I didn't look like this on our wedding day! Just in case you were doing your own calculations.

I lost!

Well, as you can see, I'm the only person that thinks the Easter Bunny is a girl. Yes, that girl vote is mine. Everyone ganged up against me. I can totally picture a cute little mama bunny delivering eggs full of yummy treats (what's the connection between bunnies and eggs, anyway?). But when I try to picure a male easter bunny, I see a fat, ugly bunny with big buck teeth and a gay little hop. WIERDO. I don't want a creature like that coming in my living room, even if he IS bringing chocolate nummies. Oh well. I won't be a poor sport about losing.

Welcome Samantha!

Baby Samantha Johansen joined the family on April 12, 2008. We're so excited that she's here and that she's actually a normal weight (the first of her siblings). We're sad that she lives in North Carolina, so we can't give her some lovin.

Pictures like this are my favorite. A first new family portrait. Swen's sister-Alexis, Hubby-Paul, Anastasia, Sabrina, and Samantha. Lovely family.

Next to arrive: Madelyn Johnston, coming in about 2 weeks.

We have also received word of another baby to add to our list. Baby Butterfield will be coming near the end of 2008. That brings the grand total of "baby cousins born in 2008" to 6!!! WOW! I think it's too late for anyone else to make an announcement for this year.