snow, snow, snow!!

Finally a real snow storm.. hopefully these whopping two inches will stay around for a while..

that hat is nice and warm.. but her head still has to grow a cone ;)

Is it me or does Lilja look like a little girlie Michelin man??

Lilja's first icicle.. soooo cold.. but very intriguing .

How do I love thee, let me count the ways...

So it was time to update Lilja's "dressing room" after her playroom looked so cute.. So I facebooked around to see if someone was selling a nice dresser.. Ours became too little after I brought so many clothes back from Holland.. And YES!! My friend Amy was selling hers and guess what.. it was the dresser I had been looking at .. My favorite one!! and how cute does it look with the owl peeking through. Thanks Amy.. Yes, everything happens for a reason.

Thank you, Maggie..

Mama, Maggie is cleaning my feet..no wonder they are smelly ;)
Left foot..

This one too, Maggie

Yeah , all clean.. thank you Maggie!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends.. We wanted to give thanks to all of you who have been there for us throughout this year. You know who you are... Thank you for your love hugs, support and making us a little family.

row,row, row..the horse

Lilja loves the song "Row, row, row your boat" we sing a fun version at Tumbling Tots so now she will hold my hands and start rowing while she sings Row, row, .. but now everything that rocks, she thinks rows.. thus the horse.. :)

how does a little one with two teeth eat corn??

backwards and upside down...

house sitting..

Lilja and I have been house sitting while Aran went hunting.. perfect timing and a really fun time. The house is beautiful to start, but is also kid friendly and has the best toys and playroom for a little child.. a music corner, a tunnel, an amazing kid size drum set and a fun tunnel.. she is having a blast.

Lilja's room

We have been updating Lilja's room a little; trying to make it into a playroom plus just toning down the red a little bit. First I bought some velvet slate blue curtains that definitely darken the room when closed, but lighten up the room colors a little. (the previous curtain were red)
Then i bought the white boxes shelf and I love the colors of the boxes in it.. Slate Blue, red and this soft yellow cream color.. It is the same color as the wall, but in this picture the wall is very washed out.. the color is a lot richer yellow/creamy..and now I just added the shelf on top and the photo of the three of us.. .Lilja choses one stuffed animal each morning to bring into bed with us while we are having coffee and she is having milk (yes, milk.. the formula is .. almost ... gone.. YEAH!!).. Lilja, most of the time, choses the 'lady".. the doll on the right of the shelf... my mom made her a long, long time ago..

Here is a good picture of the curtains.. the "lilja" letters were made by Chelsea, the photographer and I just incorporated them into her room. The wall behind her crib is a lot darker color yellow than the other walls. Love the end result.. When you sit in the rocking chair it just feels peaceful and cozy.. Lilja loves to sit in front of the shelf and pull out some books to "read". She really seems to like it too

Lillibeth birthday party!

Our friends' little daughter Lillibeth turned 3 today and they had a birthday party at the swimming pool today. Durango has a real gem in that rec center as the pool and slides are really great, and very age-appropriate for all ages. Lilja is a little water rat and I think I want to do some swimming lessons with her. She really loves the water!

Here she is watching everyone in the water and is waiting for Daddy to take her in..

at last...

with the birthday girl..

Happy Birthday Lillibeth!!

I can't contain myself...this is sooo fun!!

At the birthday party Lilja found a balloon.. Daddy and Lilja had just swam for a while and had to settle down a bit.. so they were just kind of chillin.. well, not really, that purple balloon brought out a very excited Lilja, or was it the swimming, or the carrot cupcake??? maybe all of the above..

I am sooo excited!!!!!!!

flirty girl

Lilja is becoming more and more expressing.. talking up a storm and really being silly so we'll laugh with her.. she is finding out the fun of being a clown.. Hmmm, who does she get that from? ;) Me???

one small step for baby.. one giant step for the Johnsons...

snow, snow, snow....

Lilja's first real snow.. last year we got lots but of course she was so little she won't remember that.. All we got was an inch but Lilja was impressed..yesterday she started calling out "sneeuw, sneeuw" with such a cute little voice!!

Hi Mamma, are you coming???

Pine needles are Lilja's fascination..prickly but fun..

Pretty slippery..and wet..

Lilja one year after we met...

One year ago...

Today!!

one year ago....

it has been one year... one year to this minute that we met Jasmin ( Lilja's birth mom) and she changed our lives... forever...She chose us to take on the most important and amazing task.. to become Lilja's parents. We met her Saturday morning and talked for about 2 hours.. talking about everything.. finding common grounds and just getting to know this beautiful girl that hopefully would still love us after we talked.. then that moment came that the agency asked if we and she wanted to go ahead with the adoption...we all look at each other and felt this was an amazing match.. and still is... That afternoon we met Lilja at the cradle care house of Diane's.. this tiny little girl captured our hearts immediately and we never looked back...
here is our first meeting captured by Diane.

The next day we all met for the placement ceremony..we were in awe of Jasmin . She was so poised and sweet. One of the images of the ceremony that is is always in my mind is the candle with the three wicks.. One for Lilja, one for us, and one for Jasmin.. Looking back at this year we all three have honored that candle throughout this last year.. Here is to another year of visits and Skypes and letters!!.. ...

Jasmin and Lilja

grandma and grandpa are here!!

Aran's parents came to visit this week.. Lilja really seemed to remember them and

has been a very silly and talkative girl.. it is so nice to have them around, besides them just dotting over Lilja, Margaret (grandma) is an amazing cook and treated us to some great dinners..

lots of snuggles and bonding time with Grandma and Grandpa..

I brought one of my tunnels home to play in.. Lilja had a ball.. and Daddy too!!!
Ready for the last minute little birthday party..

When are my friends coming, Mamma??