Christmas Jammies!! **Shinesty PJ #Review**

Happy Holidays from the Johnson crew! 

This Christmas we got some new jammies courtesy of online retailer Shinesty.

I had never heard about their store until now, but the website is hilarious. Below is their mission: 

“We created Shinesty for one reason and one reason only:

To bring you the most outlandish collection of clothing the world has ever seen.

When worn correctly, the right clothing can make Mike Tyson's albino tiger purr like a kitten, blow the minds of boringly-dressed onlookers, or be a major contributing factor in the creation of a small human that looks strikingly similar to you.

Whether you are searching for a rare retro piece, enough neon to blind the 80s, or simply something that would make Chuck Norris weep with pride, Shinesty is here to help.

Stay Weird & Shine On” 

Our jammies are a cool, wintery blue and covered with a cool Santa beard and hat combo. The official name of the style is “Fifty Shades of Santa” from their Christmas pajama line.  

Here is the run down: 

• The fabric is this soft, 95% polyester + 5% spandex blend that stretches to fit all body types
• Henley style tops are a loose, traditional PJ with a partial button down closure 
• The style of the pants are a jogger style with an elastic hem
• Elastic waistbands for no guilt with all the holiday snacking
• There are pockets!
• Some of the styles are even made for pets! Sadly, I those went fast so we weren’t able to get any for Jett

I’m so excited to find out about this company, because the fun doesn’t stop with the Christmas season, they have Thanksgiving, Hanukah, New Year’s, and Fourth of July themed jammies for the whole family.

***I was gifted a set of family pajamas for compensation for writing this post. All opinions are my own.*** 

From Our Family to Yours...

 "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

- Isaiah 9:6 (NKJV)

Happy Christmas Eve!!

Every year I try and get a family picture taken for our Christmas card. Every year it is last minute. There was that one time back in 2011 when it wasn't, but definitely not the norm.

Last year after finding a photographer, we went to get our pictures taken and I just wasn't crazy about the way they turned out. We ended up coming home and immediately snapping our own in front of the tree. This year I decided to forego scheduling a photography session and we snapped some photos at my moms. I absolutely love them. 

Below are some of my favs: 

My dad came home from work and jumped in since he was dressed for the occasion 

Little miss sass!

Thank you everyone for reading and staying with me on this crazy journey. Though it is difficult, I feel so blessed to be living the life I dreamed for myself. This is going to be a big year for us, I can feel it. 2017, bring it!

xoxo

Roadtrips, Blizzards, & Graduations...

Last week was my first vacation week since March - I was so ready. Since we would be home for Christmas and my little brother was graduating from college on the 17th, it made sense to do our marathon road trip and cram as many visits in as possible. A little insane since it is a 12 hour drive to Michigan, but we never regret it. 

First, we had to buy some coats... 

My kids are so enamored with the thought of snow since we do not experience it like we did in Indiana. Poor Isabelle had yet to have a real snow day - she's practically a Southern belle. After frantically going around to three different stores, Target came through for the win. I think it is hysterical that no one was selling coats here in December. 

We hit the road after big Nate got off of work and drove straight through. I love driving overnight when the kids will sleep. I wasn't able to help out with my entire half because my immune system decided it was the perfect time to come down with a cold..womp. By the time we hit Virginia, I was done. Nate took over and we made great time. 

Our Detroit visit included a stay at Nate's brother's house, my Grammy's house, and Nate's Grandma's house. It's always awesome to see everyone and the kids were in heaven with their cousins.

I was kind of bummed because I didn't get to see any of my college friends that are still in the Detroit area. There just wasn't enough time - in addition to the blizzard that made elective travel risky so we just stayed put where we were.

On Tuesday, we headed to my mom's in Indiana. I looooove love love being at home. Thankfully, we were able to stay in one place for a few days until we all made the trek to Indianapolis for my little brother's graduation. I even was able to pull together our family Christmas photo and card... #habitualprocrastinator

Making gingerbread houses with Lita (my mom)

After this photo was taken, we hit the road and drove right into an ice storm. Ya'll, a trip that normally takes about 2.5hours, took about EIGHT HOURS. The highway froze while we were on it, and the police SHUT. IT. DOWN....this is the mess I DO NOT MISS about the Midwest. 

....But we all made it!! Thank the Lord for his traveling mercies. And the next day after a slight delay from the ice storm (they almost cancelled it all together), we watched my baby bro walk across the stage. It was an amazing moment for many reasons. Last time I saw him he was wheel chair bound due to his football injury. I am so proud of him and God is so good!

Jooooordan!!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 @jayydran90

A video posted by Jasmine Johnson, MD (@mrsmommymd) on Dec 17, 2016 at 11:25am PST

Brothers!!

Jordan and my proud parents 

Sunday morning it was time to head back to North Carolina :tear:

We were all feeling kind of blue being back home, but we are enjoying our Christmas vacay by making our own on memories Johnson style. This 61 degree weather also helps to ease the pain a bit ;-)

Hope you all are having a great start to your holiday!

xoxo

It's Beginning to Look A Lot like Christmas...

My favorite time of the year is here!!!

I hope you all had a great weekend. We had a busy one. 

Friday, Nate was feeling under the weather and after going to the doctor, it was confirmed that he had strep throat. Thank goodness after a little penicillin he is feeling much better. 

It was the last interview day for our program on Saturday, and our family hosted the pre-interview dinner on Friday night. We had a great time, and the food is always delicious - the department caters a taco bar from one of the delicious Durham restaurants. So good! I also was reminded how much I love, LOVE having our house full of friends. It makes my heart smile :) 

Yesterday, I spent the whole day doing interview things and wrapping up with my class well into the evening. I was so exhausted when I got home, I fell asleep watching Alvin & the Chipmunks with the kiddos. 

Today has been a a much-needed chill day. Thanks to the interview dinner, not only are my Christmas decorations finished, but my house is the cleanest its been since we moved in...No lie. Hopefully, I can keep this momentum going, but lets be real, I probably will not...haha 

Ya'll...I'm super excited about my Christmas decor this year. Not only did we get our biggest tree yet, but I channeled my mom's decor sense and tried to tie in a number of other decorating touches around the house including decorating our mantle with tree trimmings. Just call me Moesha Stuart ;-) 

Now that December is here, I can play my Christmas music with no shame. YAY!!

Hope you all have a relaxing rest of your Sunday.

xoxo

Out with the Old!

Happy 2014 Everyone!

I hope you all had a great holiday season and end of the year. We are currently experiencing a bit of an extended break with the arrival of "Snowpacolypse" 2014. Schools, businesses, roads, etc. pretty much in the entire state of Indiana are closed due to the almost foot of snow that fell all day Sunday. Today, we had a windchill of -35. Yes, you read that right. 35 degrees BELOW zero. Never in my life have I heard the news give a run down on how to avoid frostbite until last night. Tomorrow, we are advised to stay indoors again due to this crazy cold.

The fam and I had a lovely Christmas. After waking up in Indianapolis and opening gifts with the kids, we hit the road for Michigan to spend time with the extended family. We were able to stay in town from Wednesday to Sunday, so we got some great visit time in - it's never enough to see everyone we would like, but it was more time than most...

Back in 2013 (lol), this happened...

Isabelle wasn't too impressed by Santa...She kind of reminds me of "Grumpy Cat" haha

 

I'm so excited about the great things to come in 2014! This is the year I become "Dr. Johnson"! We will be moving (hopefully south!) - and most likely buying our first home. I will finally be done with paying tuition and will get my first paycheck doing what I love. Natey will be starting kindergarten... YAY!

I kicked off the new year by getting rid of the old... Every closet (aside from the hubby's :side eye:) has been cleaned out. I got rid of so much junk, and with the help of organization blogs and youtube tutorials, found some space-saving ways to do things like fold underwear and towels. My underwear drawer looks like a Victoria's Secret display it's so neat, and don't get me started on our medicine cabinets and linen closet...hahaha My new crusade is a fight against dust. It's like ridiculous in this house, sheesh. 

I haven't really made any resolutions this year. I just want to be better. I want to be a better Christian, a better wife, a better mother, a better friend. I guess I should be more specific, but I think simple is best for me right now :-) 

I started counting calories and semi-"eating clean" last Monday. I'm already 5lbs down! I'm sure it's just water weight, but my goal is to be slim and trim by graduation. I have about 20lbs to lose in 5 months. The first two days was so hard, but I am finally not feeling starved anymore. So now I have a bit more confidence that I can do it!

Minutes post piercing. She was a trooper!

This month's rotation is a sub-internship in OBGYN. It is kind of like what I did in October on internal medicine - acting as an intern. The biggest (and awesome) thing about it is that it's in my soon to be specialty! The hours will be long, but I will try and keep you all posted on how it's going...

This past weekend Isabelle got her ears pierced! She did so well, but poor Natey started to cry because he didn't want anyone to hurt his sister :-(

And Natey turns 5 on the 29th! I cannot believe it. Below is a peek at the photos taken by his dad for the superhero themed invite. SO cute!

                                  

I think that is all for now. Ciao!

Christmas Vacation Update (& Our Special Gift)

So far my vacation has been lovely.

We had our first ever Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning in our own home and I am so happy that we did. Although it is great to go out of town ahead of time so that we can be with everyone, it was nice to work on starting our own family's traditions - baking cookies, reading the Christmas story before bed, staying up and wrapping gifts in our own home. It was great!

Nate asked for things all year (and we delivered) so I was expecting an over-the-top reaction to all the awesome things this kid got for Christmas. Instead we got the most lackluster gift unwrapping ever. I will credit it to my son's analytical and pragmatic personality traits thanks to his engineer-father, but goodness... He carefully made sure all the paper was off each gift, interjected an inside voice "wow" or "sweet", and the would pause for a few seconds as if he was reading the specs on each box. What was the most hilarious is that he asked for 50 million different Batman toys, and he got quite a few, as he opened the third Batman-themed toy, this man goes, "Man...Batman has a lot of stuff though....Batman has a lot of stuff..." Really little Nate?

My little Candycane

We spent the previous weekend at my parents' house and Natey had his first Christmas there. Then, after spending the morning at home, we hit the road and headed to Michigan for a couple days to see the rest of the hubby and I's family. We are going to spend the last days of my vacation (the hubby and the kid get more days than me - not fair) at home. I am probably the happiest about this because all that traveling was exhausting.

In addition to this being my favorite holidays, this was also a special time because we had a big announcement for everyone:

Our BIG News!!

We are so excited!! And I think Natey is going to be an awesome big brother.

I go back to rotation life on the 2nd, so I plan to spend the rest of my days off lounging around... It is going to be splendid.

This pregnancy has already been completely different from my first - "didn't even know I was pregnant for 5 weeks" experience with Natey. Baby J has made his/her presence known with a baseline feeling of all-day nausea. And I'm pretty sure this baby doesn't want me to have a blog because every time I get ready to write, either a big wave of nausea or sleepiness takes over :yawn: No worries, because vacations are perfect for napping... all. day. long.

Hope you all are having a great holiday season!
xoxo

Baby J @ 10 weeks
 Hope this kid likes the camera because this is the first of many pictures...

After my appointment today, I told Natey to hold the picture of his brother or sister so I could snap a pic and he goes, "I don't want to, she can take a picture by herself!" I thought this was hilarious....But really he is just as excited as we are ;-)

Siblings!!!