Newborn Pics!!!

We just had some newborn pics taken of Erynn, thanks to my wonderful father. I am so happy with how they turned out. Thanks you so much dad!

Our little model was all tuckered out.

She looks like an angel.

I love this one!

She has all ten tiny toes.

Had a Great Day

Well, today started off like any other day. After Andie got off to school, I spent most of the day listening to Avery sing songs from "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" (a really cute movie by the way) as she played with Barbies in her room. Avery loves to sing and I love to hear her sing. It is the cutest thing. When she sings, most of the time, she doesn't know all the words and the ways she sings it. She sings with such conviction and passion. Like she is performing for a large audience.

Since it is February, baseball season has started. Lucas is coaching the JV team and has practice everyday from 3:30-6:00. Today I found out that he didn't have a regular practice and didn't have to leave until 5:30. I was so happy to have my husband for 2 extra hours today. It is really nice to know that I truly enjoy my time with my husband. He jokes with me that I would get tired of him if he was home more, yeah right!

Oh, yeah and we got Erynn's birth certificate in the mail today. Not sure why this makes me so happy, but it was great. We put all her stuff with the other girls, it's like it makes it official somehow.

Wednesday nights, Lucas and I have a sort of date night. We take the girls to dance and gymnastics and then we go out to dinner. Well, of course we take Erynn with us now, but other than that, we don't go out during the week. I decided that I would take the girls out to eat before class, so they chose McDonald's (of course). Then they went to class and Lucas and I had dinner, just the three of us. Luckily, Erynn slept until we left the restaurant.

As a side note, my Avery has a friend in her dance class, my friend Heidi's daughter Caty. Well, Caty brought a picture of her new room, it is princess themed with pink walls and everything. Well, after dance, Avery comes up to me and states that she wants a princess room like Caty. I tried to make her happy with her new room and reminded her that she would be getting a new big girl bed soon. She said that we need to get rid of all the purple in her room, because now she wants it pink. I tried not to laugh, because it took us 2 years to pick that purple and three days to get her room painted. Oh well, she will just have to deal for now.

On the way home from picking up the girls, Erynn got pretty cranky because it was time to eat. This did not help when her bath came, because she was already grumpy. I have the best time bathing her. She cries throughout most of it, but then after, she gets so cuddly and she smells so good. I think I am going to start bathing her nightly. I cuddled with her on the couch and then laid her down when I saw she was starting to fall asleep. She went to bed without a peep. It was great!

Two Weeks Out

So, Erynn is now two weeks old. I can't believe it. You know how most people are like, "Where did the time go?" Well I know where the time went, it went with pee pee diapers and trying to figure out if she likes swaddling or not, trying to get her to take a binkie to give me a break.

I can't complain. Erynn is a very good baby. Most of the time she puts herself to sleep. There are the few times when she is so tired that she cries for a little help. At night, she nurses and goes back to sleep. Only two feedings in the night, so I am not as sleep deprived as most, I assume.

I am trying to lose some weight now that she is here, but not being too aggressive because I am still nursing. I have re-joined WW online and love. Again, not really following plan yet because I have already lost 22.5 pounds in the last two weeks. I can't believe it. I weigh less than before I got pregnant, but since I have a few more pounds to lose, I will keep going with WW.

Anywho, just some randomness at 7am. Kids off to school, a day sort of to myself.

Erynn's 1st Week Home

I can't believe that a week has already gone by. I can tell that she is growing so much everyday. She is such a good baby. She eats every 4 hours on the hour. She usually goes to sleep without too much crying. The girls absolutely adore her! Avery is my diaper helper and Andie is proving to be the great big sister we know she is. Anyway, here are some pics from Erynn's first week of life.

Erynn getting ready to go home from hospital.

Daddy changing 1st newborn diaper in 3 1/2 years.

Erynn and her Great-Granny Cole at the hospital.

Avery holding baby Erynn for the 1st time. Look at that look on her face!

Andie holding baby Erynn for the 1st time. This is pretty much what Erynn looks like 80% of the day. Probably why she is growing so fast.

Love this pic and the next. Poor Erynn has no idea that her big sister is lurking behind her until...

Muah!! An attack from nowhere. What can I say, I have kissy children!!

Erynn and Avery chillin' on my boppy. You would be surprised at how much These two look alike as babies.

Erynn's 1st shampoo at home. She really hated it at 1st, but now is more relaxed when her hair is washed.

Erynn's 1st bath at home. She pretty much still hates this.

Erynn and her auntie Alisa. This is the sister that we all swore she looked like as soon as she was born.

Erynn and her Nana.

We just love her so much and can't imagine our life without her.

Eight is Great!!!

Andie at the hospital, hours after she was born.

She was such a good happy baby!! Lucas and I have always felt we were lucky 1st-time-parents!

Andie at 2 1/2 years old. She is still a little ham!!

So the time has come. I now have an 8-year-old. My Andie Janae just had her 8th birthday party on Valentines Day. We had family over since she already had a friends party a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe how fast time flies. 8 years ago at 4:38pm, I had my Andie, after like 5 1/2 hours of labor. She weighed in at 9# 5oz and 20 in long. She had the cutest little chubby face. I can't believe how much she has grown. We love you so much Andie. I hope you know how proud of you we are and how much you are loved.

Andie will be Baptized this year! We are so excited for her.

Andie and her birthday cake. Can you tell she has already had a taste!?!

Andie's birthday cake, thanks to Bashas. It was so yummy!!

Andie's very 1st locket. It has a picture of her Nana, the one who gave it to her.

Andie opening some of her presents!

Just in case you were wondering what 20 heart shaped cakes look like. Here are the cakes that Andie took to school for her Valentine's Day Party.

Funny, Sweet, and Silly Things My Kids Have Said

Last night I was making mini-heart shaped cakes for Andie's Valentine's Party today. Avery didn't want to finish her dinner, so Lucas told her she couldn't have any dessert. Well, I had just finished mixing the batter for the cakes when Avery came up and asked if she could have a lick. I told her that she couldn't because she didn't finish her dinner. I see her peeking over the edge of the counter eyeing the bowl with the mix. She then looks up at me and says, "Please can I have a lick, I'm dying for it!" I couldn't help but laugh.

So, then I went to go tell Lucas how dramatic Avery was being. He was saying the same as me, sorry, but no dinner, no dessert. Lucas added to this, "and that's the end of it." Well, then Avery looks right at Lucas and says, "Oh no it's not the end of it, and then it rained gumdrops." Lucas was so taken aback. He thought for sure that she was going to try and be naughty, but instead she was trying to make us all laugh. Well, it worked.

This morning when Andie woke up, the first thing that she asked about were her cakes. Well I told her to go to the kitchen and see for herself. She walked up to the counter and said. "Mom they are beautiful." This made staying up til 11:30pm last night was totally worth it.

One more silly thing from Avery. In the morning, Avery makes a big deal about saying good-bye to everyone. She gets very upset if she doesn't get a good-bye hug and kiss. Well, Andie was on her way out the door when Avery ran over for another hug and kiss. Andie tried brushing her off, but I told her to be nice and loving to her little sister. Andie grudgingly bent over and gave her her hug and kiss, then went out the door closing it harder than necessary. Well Avery just thought that this was so rude. She opened the door and yelled out to Andie, "If you slam that door one more time, mommy is going to spank you." I found this very funny, because I had said no such thing, but obviously Avery thought that sissy might have needed a spanking this morning.

A Labor Story

Where do I begin? Well, we had discussed being induced and so the date was set, Feb 7, 2009. That morning the OB department was crazy busy. I wasn't too optimistic that we were going to get in that day. So I got up that morning and made the girls breakfast. Lunchtime came and after a few false starts, we got the call that there was a bed available and if I wanted it I had better hurry over. We were just finishing up lunch at Denny's when my friend Heidi called me to come in.

Pic of me at my "last supper".

As soon as we got to the hospital, around 2:30pm, I was started on Pitocin to start contractions, I was only 3cm dialated so had a ways to go.

One more belly shot.

At around 10:00pm I was only 4-5cm dialated and the Dr. suggested that I get my Epidural. So Jason Underwood came in and I got my first Epidural ever. It was great!! So the Pitocin game started. Every so often the nurses would come in and increase the amount of medication I was getting. I was contracting a bunch, but no change in my cervix. One of the nurses I had thought that my water had already broken, so here I was on a bunch of Pit, water broke, and not changing my cervix. At around 4:00am, I was convincing myself that I was going to have to have a c-section to get this baby out. I was so sad, because I knew that meant a longer time away from my Andie and Avery. At 5:30am my good friend Heidi came in to check on me and said that I was 5-6cm and that my water was still intact. Well right after that check, my water broke. I was starting to feel contractions and knew that my Epidural was starting to wear off, but I was only half-way dialated. About 30 min later, I started to feel more pressure, I was 7-8cm, 30 min later I was 9 cm, 10 min later I was complete and feeling a ton of pressure. Lucas was frantically calling in family. The Dr. arrived and my family walked in the door as soon as I started pushing.

One contraction later, Erynn Kinley Johnson was born at 7:24am on Feb 8, 2009.

Weighing 8# 4oz

You cannot imagine my excitement when she was placed in my arms. After a long night of no sleep, Pitocin, and fearing a c-section my little girl was finally here.

Lucas and Dr. Rheinfelder looking over the baby. I was glad that Dr. Rheinfelder was on this last weekend and worked so hard to get our little angel here for us. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

If you couldn't tell I was a little excited when I was finally able to hold her. I was so surprised because she looked so much like my side of the family. When I first saw her I thought that she looked just like my sisters, therefore, she must look more like me. Finally, a baby that looked like its mommy!!!
Not too shabby after 17 hours of labor.Daddy and baby. Thank you Lucas for being there for every second, I couldn't have done this without you!!!!

Grandma Julie and baby.

Nana and Baby.

Papa and Baby. Thank you dad for the great pictures. I will have these look back on and remember what a great day it was.

I have a few pics of baby with my sister Alisa, but I have to get one that shows you how much they look alike.

We are at home now and I am a mother of three beautiful girls. I am so grateful for my girlies and they are all doing so well. Next blog will have pics of baby Erynn's first few days home.

Erynn is here!

Picture of Erynn and daddy on her birthday 2/8/09

Just a real quick post to say that Erynn is here!!! I will post more, but at this moment I am holding her and only have one hand to type with.

2 More Days...but whose couting!?!?

So here we are at the end of almost 10 months of anticipation. I am going into the hospital Saturday morning to be induced with my third daughter. I can tell that she is going to be a pretty good size and that she is running out of room, fast. She was kicking the crap out of me last night.

The girls are so excited as are Lucas and I. We keep saying "I wonder what she will look like?" With my last two pregnancies I got to the point where it was like, "when is she coming" because I was uncomfortable and tired of being pregnant. With this one, I have been pretty miserable this whole pregnancy, except for the past 10 weeks. Aside from being tired, I am no longer nauseated, no more sciatic nerve pain, no more emotional breakdowns. I am now just so excited to have her here. I can't wait to hold her in my arms, smell her, kiss her toes, and just watch her grow.

O.K. did I say no more emotional breakdowns, because I am making myself cry right now. I truly feel so lucky to have such a great family. I love my husband and daughters more than words and can't wait to add another one to the mix. I use to tell Lucas "Four kids, that's it" but now that I am almost done with this one, it makes me so sad to think that I will only experience this one more time. I have talked to many friends that have 4, 5, or more kids and they all say the same thing. I will know when I am done. Well one thing is for sure, I am still pregnant with this one and I am not done yet.