Cole's First Christmas

What a wonderful week we had in GA, celebrating Cole's first Christmas with both sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins! Here are some highlights from our week at "home."

Meeting Santa and walking around Dahlonega with Mimi, Poppy, Mommy, and Daddy:



Visiting Uncle Todd, Aunt Noriko, and Cousin Leo in Athens:


Playing at Mimi and Poppy's house with my cousins Nathanael, Caleigh, and Jake:




Bonding with Uncle Jason and cousin Jack at Gigi and Grandpa's house:

Christmas Eve with all the Johnsons:


Christmas morning, waiting to see what Santa brought:


Cousin Jack, my fashion idol:



We hope you had a Very Merry Christmas, just like we did!!!!

Getting Ready for Christmas!!!

We are so excited for Cole's first Christmas! I can hardly believe Christmas Eve is one week away!

Last weekend we took Cole to the children's Christmas party at the hangar on base. Santa Claus made a grand entrance when he flew in on a T-34. Cole was not so impressed with Santa, but he loved it when he got to sit in the cockpit of the plane that his daddy flies! He was practically jumping up and down with delight! I was also relieved that the noisy plane did not scare him at all.


One of Cole's many admirers...

Doesn't he look like he's ready for his first haircut? It is getting so long in the back!


Later that evening, Jeff and I had a "grown up" party to go to. It was fun to get dressed up for the evening and spend time with our awesome friends! We can hardly believe it is almost time for many of us to go our separate ways...again! It is so wonderful to have had the opportunity to make such wonderful friendships in the military, but also bittersweet knowing that we all will move on at some point. We already said good-bye to our friends Christine and James last Spring, and over the next 2-8 months we will be saying farewell to 5 more couples who are dear to us!


While we are excited to spend the holidays with our families, this Christmas the Johnson family will be missing one of our most special and beloved members. Jeff's grandpa, Carroll Hebbel, passed away just 2 weeks ago. He was a kind, gentle, funny, and admirable man who touched so many lives, and we will miss him so much. We are so thankful that Cole was able to meet his great-grandpa last May when we travelled to Ponte Vedra Beach for Jessica's wedding.

We love you Grandpa!

For those of you we don't talk to or see regularly, we hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Cole's First Word!

...and it was "Mama!" Cole has been babbling the sound ma-ma-ma for awhile now, but I was never quite sure if he meant anything by it or if he was truly just babbling. But today, without a doubt, he was talking to me! When I went to put him in his crib, he reached up for me and yelled "MA-MA!" Naturally, no one else was around to hear it but me, but trust me, he said it!!

Here's another cute picture of him from the week:

He would rather play with a cell phone, remote control, or calculator than any toy in the house!

Our Thanksgiving

I realize I'm a bit late posting these photos! I misplaced my camera dock and just found it at the office today!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the holiday with our friends Gene and Michelle, Kelly, Jarrett and Julie, Jarrett's mom, and two of Julie's co-workers. Gene and Michelle were our gracious hosts and they didn't even mind that unloaded a carload of Cole's "equipment" in the middle of their living room, dining room, and guest room! We don't travel as lightly as we used to when we could just tote him around in a car seat. Now he comes with his play yard (aka "baby jail") so we can set up a play area, plenty of toys to keep him entertained, a booster seat, and a pack n play for bedtime!



Cole had his first taste of fried turkey, and I think it's safe to say that he loved it! He also tried my orange sherbert salad, and I think he agreed with Jarrett's sentiment --"It tastes like angels dancing in my mouth!"



Cole seems to be growing right before our very eyes! He is taking a few steps while holding onto the furniture, and he can even let go with one hand and move to another piece of furniture. He has 6 teeth now and I think I caught a glimpse of a molar coming in today! He had his 9 month check up on November 20, and he weighed 21 lbs, 6 oz. He actually seems to be getting a little leaner and looking more and more like a toddler every day.


We are looking forward to a season of "firsts" for Cole. We'll be taking him to see Santa one day soon and I'll be sure to post the pictures!

Remember the Rangers

This Thanksgiving, more than ever, Jeff and I are counting our blessings and realizing just how much we have to be thankful for. We have a beautiful little boy who is healthy and happy and we get to enjoy this holiday season together as a family.

However, for our extended family here in Corpus Christi, this Thanksgiving will be a little bittersweet as we remember that this will be a very difficult time for the families of our friends Bret Miller and Joe Houston. For those of you who were not aware, Bret and Joe were two instructor pilots in our squadron who lost their lives on October 28 in a tragic plane crash. The T-34 went down during a routine training mission, leaving our military family in a state of shock and disbelief. Bret's wife is expecting their second child this March, and Joe had a son and was engaged to be married. We can't imagine what a difficult time this must be for them. A memorial fund has been set up for their children, and we would like to ask that you consider making a contribution by going to the website www.remembertherangers.com.

Most importantly, please keep their families in your prayers this holiday season and please pray for the safety of Jeff, his squadron-mates, and our military as they continue to serve our country.

We hope your family has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Where's Waldo?

There he is!

Fun Videos

Cole got a great laugh (and so did we!) from this party favor from the birthday party he went to today:




These next 2 videos are from a few weeks ago when we first started introducing Cole to finger foods. Now he loves them, but at first he was not so sure! We call his technique "the point and grab." Now he likes soft-cooked chunks of fruit and veggies, toast, rotini pasta, and of course, cheerios. Usually for every 10 pieces he picks up, about 1 piece actually goes in his mouth!




Sorry if these aren't as funny to everyone else as they are to Jeff and me. What can I say, we think everything he does is hilarious!

Happy Halloween

Cole enjoyed his first Halloween. However, mommy made a rookie mistake and did not try on his penguin costume prior to the big day, and wouldn't you know, it was too small! Good thing I had a back-up costume on stand-by. We went across the street to our neighbor's house and Cole hung out with two other babies, Nick (who was Frankenstein) and Avery (a monkey). Here is our little candy corn:

Cole has a hilarious new pose that he did all night! We call it the "George Castanza." If you are a Seinfeld fan, you will know where that comes from!



He lays on his side with his hand on his thigh, and just chills for a minute!



See, he's doing it in every picture!

Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch

Family Photos

Once again, Ashley McComb blew us away with her photography skills!! We decided to have family pictures taken and I really had my heart set on an outdoor session. I waited until October 14, so you wouldn't think it would be 1000 degrees outside, but we were not so fortunate here in Corpus Christi! Even at 6 pm, we were sweating to death, and poor Cole was dressed in a sweater and jeans! And to top it all off, we had to drive about 20 minutes to get to our location, so naturally Cole was sound asleep when we arrived (Any car ride over 5 minutes puts him out like a light!) We woke him up for the photos and he was so groggy we could barely get him to look at the camera, much less smile. Somehow, though, Ashley worked her magic and got some gorgeous shots of our little man. To see more of our pictures from her "sneak peak" you can check out her blog at:

www.ashleymccombphotography.blogspot.com

The "J family" photos are under the Oct 15 post titled "Love."

She will have the rest of the proofs online in a couple of weeks.

Gigi's Visit

Cole's Gigi came for a great visit last week! On Saturday, we took a family outing to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch football. Despite the fact that the game was a total disaster, we showed our UGA team spirit!


We were sad to see Gigi go, especially since she was such a wonderful help to me watching Cole. I ended up working a lot during her visit, but it gave her and Cole plenty of time to bond. We hope you come back soon Gigi!

Story Time

Cole and I went to Story Time at one of the local churches today and I took this cute pic of him with our friend's daughter Evie. All of the kiddos wore their pj's and had a teddy bear tea party afterwards. Cole was fascinated with all of the "big kids" and although he was too little to participate in the tea party, he had a great time listening to the songs and stories! Doesn't he look so grown up?!

7 months old

Nothing new to blog about these days, but I know I am way overdue in posting Cole's latest pictures! In the top photo, he is sporting his Robies for the first time. They served a double purpose as shoes and entertainment, as he was fascinated with trying to pull the airplanes off!

He is really growing quite fond of Dixie lately. Here they are bonding on the floor together:



Cole is babbling up a storm lately! He loves to say, "ma-ma-ma" all day long. He also pulled himself up to a standing position all by himself today! He hasn't figured out how to crawl with his belly off the ground, but he manages to get around pretty well by dragging himself with his arms. The other day I had my back to him for just a minute, and when I turned around, he had disappeared! Fortunately I quickly found him under his crib, where he had chased a ball that had rolled away.

Well, that's all for now. We'll be back with more pictures soon!