The Johnson Clan

I wanted to write down our schedule so that in a few years, when I wonder how we handled two babies, I can look at this and remember. Granted, our days are not always perfectly timed. Sometimes we have appointments, guests, or places we want to go that will mess up the schedule. And sometimes the girls are more tired, so they sleep a little longer, or more hungry so they wake up a little sooner. But generally we follow this plan. Every day looks like this: 8:00 am- wake up, change diapers, feed 8:30 am- go downstairs, make breakfast, sit on our deck while we talk to each other  9:30 am- nap 11 am- wake up, change diapers, feed 11:30 am- go downstairs, take Abe for a walk 12:00 pm- Clayton comes home for lunch 12:30 pm- nap 2:00 pm- wake up, change diapers, feed 2:30 pm- either play on the activity mat, or we try to go somewhere  3:30 pm- nap 5:00 pm- wake up, change diapers, feed, Clayton comes home 6ish- sometimes the girls take a 20-45 minutes cat nap 8:00 pm- feed, change d...

My childhood BFF/college roommate/maid of honor/forever friend Emma came to visit for a long weekend. She flew in on Thursday and left this afternoon. We already miss her. While she was here we hiked, antique shopped, watched a Keeping Up with the Jones’, cooked, baked, held babies, and talked a lot. We had planned to go to the Mansfield Penetentiary, but they don’t allow babies inside because of the lead paint. We also thought of a bunch of other things we should have done but didn’t have time to crunch into the weekend (i.e. Kirkland, outlet shopping, Cleveland markets, Playbouse square, etc.). We also had my friend Maren and her kids stay the night on Saturday. It was a full house, just the way I like it. Ruby and Cora really like Emma. Seriously. They thought she was so funny. Emma made Ruby giggle like I’ve never heard before. And, as always, it was so nice having an extra pair of arms around.  The only down side to having your friend come visit is that when they leave life se...

Our 5th wedding anniversary is this week. We celebrated tonight because we have plans every other night of the week. Our friends Katie and Scott watched Ruby and Cora while we went out to dinner at the Burntwood Tavern. It’s crazy how fast time flies by. We spent the evening talking about all the fun times we’ve had over the past 5 years, what we want to accomplish in the next 5, and our plans for our backyard.  The food at the Burntwood Tavern is awesome, and the decor of the restaurant is dreamy. It’s like an industrial, chandelier filled warehouse that overlooks the river. The weather was perfect, so we sat outside on the balcony. I really enjoyed the peaceful ambiance and free hands. I sure do love Clayton and the life we live. I feel so lucky to have him as my husband. Ever since we had the twins, I’ve felt especially grateful for families and that I get to keep mine forever. Here’s to the past 5 years, and to many, many more!

Hannah and Sawyer are staying with Nana and Abba in Dayton for a few weeks, so we decided to capitalize on their close proximity and go visit them for the weekend. We love staying at Nana’s house. She always has lots of good food 😉. While we were there we went swimming, watched movies, got hair cuts, shopped, and ate lots of pastries. Nana made some adorable little hand knitted sweaters for Ruby and Cora, and they got new outfits to grow into. They’re already so well dressed. I remember when I was little getting cute little handmade dresses from Nana and grandma Natalie, usually around some holiday. My favorite was a church dress that had snowmen on it, and puff sleeves. So fancy.  We went to the Rusty Bucket, which is my favorite restaurant in Dayton now. They have this amazing salmon that is cooked perfectly.  When we got home we had a couple of Amazon packages for the girls from Mimi waiting on our porch. It was like Christmas morning. I set up their activity mat, and I w...

I challenged all my siblings to a Fitbit step competition (nothing motivates me like a good competition with my sisters and brother), so I took Abe, Cora, and Ruby on a long walk today. The weather app said it wasn’t supposed to rain until 5 pm, but as I was about half way through my walk I saw a giant sheet of rain coming down the street towards me.  I ran under a tree and put the girls stroller hood up. Abe and I got totally soaked, and the girl’s feet were drenched. I’m sure I was a comical sight to the cars driving by, crouching under a tree with my dog and babies. The rain only lasted 10 minutes, but it was a pretty heavy downpour.  When we finally got home, both Cora and Ruby were not happy about having wet feet, and when I picked up Cora her whole seat was soaked. :(  I changed them into dry clothes, fed them, and put them down for a nap. I guess our rainy walk was so exciting that it wore them right out.

Twinsburg (a town that was founded by twin brothers) holds an annual twin festival. It’s the biggest gathering of twins in the world, and people from all over the world come to Ohio to attend. We happen to live a mere 30 minutes away :). I was so excited. So were Ruby and Cora, of course. The theme this year was double player games, and many twins chose to dress up in costumes for a costume contest. They had tons of contests actually, like youngest and oldest twins present, most different looking fraternal twins, most identical looking twins, etc. Last year two sets of twins met at the festival and fell in love. This year they decided to do a double wedding at the festival! We didn’t see them though.  My favorite part of the whole festival was the twin talent show. Some sets did musical numbers, some recited pottery, there were comedians, and even some dancers. My favorite act was a pair of Irish step dancing twins.  It was so stinkin’ hot, but well worth it. It was so cool wa...

Hannah and Sawyer are in town! We’ve been cooking, watching movies, and hiking, of course.  Cora and Ruby have been sick for the past few days. It’s just a cold, but man it is rough when babies don’t feel well. It started with Cora, who then passed it to Ruby after a couple of days. Poor little Ruby had a fever, so I called the pediatrician. She told me to give her infant Tylenol and call if her fever doesn’t go away in a day or two. Sawyer and Clayton gave her a blessing that night. She was well and feverless by the next morning. Both girls are doing much better already. Every time Hannah and I are together we make a batch of pel meni. Sawyer had never had it before, and he reported it being ok.  (Ruby) (Cora) Tomorrow is a very big, important day. The Twinsburg Twin festival! I have been looking forward to it since the day we found out we were having twins. I can’t wait!