Jul 21-27: Sabbath School Stand-outs

We had a couple of big events this past week.  We started out the week by attending the birthday party for 2 of our little friends who had reached the big milestone of Birthday #1 - Devin Cochran and Addison Zbaraschuk.  It was a pool party, which Erik was able to participate in.  Little Elin spent most of the party sleeping and being held by Grandma Bobbi.

Devin and Addison testing out their cakes!

On Monday, we had Elin's 1 month check-up at the doctor's office.  I am pleased to say that Elin is gaining weight in leaps & bounds.  She is now 9 pounds even!  That is an increase of 2 and a half pounds from her Week 1 check-up!  I guess I don't have to worry about her gaining weight!!  This weight gain takes her from the 10th percentile to the 50th percentile.  She is also in the 50th percentile for height.

One of the primary differences of this maternity leave with Elin is that I am making more trips outside of the house with Elin in tow.  I have actually been anxious to get out and do errands or go visiting whereas before I really only wanted to stay at home and nap!  Not that I don't want to nap this time around, but I limit my naps!!  This week, in addition to the birthday party and doctor's appointment, Elin and I met up with a friend, Grenadette, who is also on maternity leave, for a walk and lunch, we went grocery shopping, we made several trips to Erik's daycare and we also made it to church for the 2nd week in a row!  Elin does very well riding in her carseat, so far, although she will certainly let me know when she is ready to get out and be held!!  Her lungs are strengthening daily!

On Friday of this week, Erik's daycare room held a party to celebrate the end of the "school" year.  Erik's daycare utilizes a program where the same group of babies stay together, with the same teachers, for 2 years.  This August marks the end of Erik's 2-year rotation with these teachers and with his friends.  It will be sad to not see the same kids anymore when we drop off & pick up Erik, but I'm hopeful that he will adapt well to his new room and new classmates.

We ended the week with our 2nd excursion to church.  I mentioned that we made our first trek to Sabbath School last week, but I didn't tell you that when we arrived at Sabbath School (late, of course), the teacher stopped the program to welcome Elin to the class and to sing the "We have a Visitor" song to her!  It was very thoughtful and sweet, but totally ruined my plan of sneaking in quietly since we were late!  Elin sleeps through the majority of Sabbath School, waking up at the end which is very convenient so we can show her off to all our friends!  Erik participates much more readily during Sabbath School now, which is fun to watch.  He actually tried to sing along to a few of the songs this week as well as repeating the prayer after the teacher (during our nightly prayers with him, he will repeat the last word in each sentence).  Of course, this week he first had a meltdown just as we entered the classroom; it was so loud that I had to take him right back out and spend several minutes calming him down.  That was fun.   This week, Elin wore a dress to church that actually belonged to her Auntie Kirstin and then to me when we were infants.  I had to take pictures of her in the little pink dress and bonnet to mark the occasion!

Elin's introduction to Sabbath School (from last week)

In a dress and bonnet that belonged to Auntie Kirstin and Mommy

Precious Sleeping Baby Girl

Jul 14-20: One Month Old

Elin is officially 1 month old!  It doesn't seem possible that 4 weeks have passed already.  We spent the past week working on our daily schedules and routines.  Elin and I spend our days nursing, napping and trying to do a project or two every day to say that we were productive!  Elin moves her hands and feet alot while laying down; she also lifts her head quite a bit.  I've actually seen her scoot herself on the changing table!  She will plant her feet on the table and then push herself backwards!Our big events this week was Elin's first bath in a tub (she loved it and lounged in the tub like a lady of leisure), we made a quick trip into my office to show Elin off to my co-workers and to return some paperwork and on Sabbath, we all made it to church for the first time as a family of four!

I'm trying to be better organized this time around with showing monthly growth pictures.  Here are Elin's 1 month-old pictures.  Erik wanted in on the action, so I let him in the photo shoot!  You can see Elin's chubby checks and double chin - she's putting on weight fast!

Erik loves to hug Elin and put his face next to hers.  I hope they become great friends!

Elin's first bath

Family Portrait after Church

Erik has had a cold for the first part of this week, so we kept him home from daycare for 2 days.  We still send Erik to daycare (we've paid his tuition through the end of July already, so need to make use of it!).  Erik loves daycare and will grab his bag and wave bye-bye each morning to Elin and I.  He'll walk out to the car waving, blowing kisses and saying "Bye-bye. See you later"!!  Of course, after he was sick, I got the cold.  Thankfully, it hasn't been very bad and Elin hasn't gotten sick.

We would like everyone to please keep Kent's brother-in-law, Casey Malmquist (Natalie's husband), in your prayers.  He was severely burned as a result of a gas explosion on Monday, July 8 in Williston, North Dakota.  He and Natalie live in Whitefish, Montana.  Natalie was not with him at the time of the accident.  Casey was airlifted to a Minneapolis hospital that has a burn unit.  We thank God that Casey survived this.  Even though he has very severe burns, there are many things that we are thankful for such as the viability of his organs, his eyesight, and his ability to communicate to name a few.  Without getting into all the details, he has many challenges ahead in his recovery and would greatly appreciate your prayers for the next several months and beyond.  We are heartbroken that this accident happened and are praying for Casey, along with hundreds of others who are part of several prayer chains.  The support has been amazing! God has answered many prayers already for which we are very thankful.

My parents sent a few "teaser" pictures that they took while visiting us last month, so I thought to share a few with you!

Snuggling with Mommy

Snuggling in with Nana

Elin is very expressive while sleeping - here is a frown

Sleeping Beauty

Roller Coaster Ride!  Erik will ask for "More Wee" to go fast!!

Peek a boo with his rubber ducks in the pool

Erik's pose when looking for something and not finding it. "Where are you? Hmm, nope!"

Big Eyes

Helping Pops with the cooking

Jun 24-Jul 13: The First Three Weeks

Wow, Elin Kate is already 3 weeks old.  The last few weeks have flown by.  We are just starting to resurface back to our new normal.  We had both sets of grandparents here for the first 3 weeks.  Elin has been a very good and easy baby so far.  She spends about 16-18 hours a day sleeping and her awake hours are normally spent quietly looking around.  For a 3 week old, she is rather vocal; she coos, squeaks, grunts and snorts!  One time, I could swear that I heard her say "mama"!!  Elin "talks" both while sleeping and while awake.  Makes me wonder if she is going to start talking early.

She is also very expressive; her mouth is always in motion.  She has perfected the fussy frown, the wide-eyed look of shock and the raised eyebrows to question what is happening to her!  It is hilarious at times to watch her face.  She has been smiling for the past week and a half (yes, I'm sure it is smiling and not gas and both Grandmothers will back me up)!  I also caught her laughing in her sleep this weekend - I was holding her and she was lying there quietly when all of a sudden she began making a chuckling sound and her shoulders started to shake!  I couldn't believe it! 

Because Elin is such an amazing sleeper so far, I've actually had to wake her up for her nursing sessions.  When she wakes up on her own, she will only make a few grunting noises and start rustling around in her crib.  In fact, she really only started to cry (and she can cry REALLY loudly) after the grandparents left and Kent went back to work full-time!  It may be a conspiracy to only let me know her true personality!!  Elin and I are working on her schedule; since the grandparents left she has been waking up and wanting to be fed more often; she will want to nurse anywhere from 2 1/2 hours to 4 hours (if she goes longer than 4, I "force" a feeding on her).  For the first week to 10 days after bringing her home, I did have to wake her up at night to nurse, but she's been waking up on her own for that last week & a half.  She does usually go about 4 hours at night, so I am getting ALOT more sleep than with Erik!

Erik is doing amazingly well with all the changes at home.  He loved having Nana & Pops Chalker and "Granmum" & Grandpa Johnson here for 3 weeks to dote on him!  I was worried how he would react once they all left, but he's done really well.  Erik adapts to different circumstances very well; Kent & I are so fortunate in that regard.  While we had all the grandparents here, we had a small celebration for Erik's 2nd birthday.  Erik has become enamored with Curious George, so he got a chocolate cake with his favorite monkey on it!  He was hesitant to try it at first but quickly overcame that hesitation!

Except for a few rare days, Erik spent several hours each day in the pool with various family members (except me who is banned from the pool under doctor's orders - how rude since it is the height of summer in Florida!).  This turned out to be a great thing since Erik had been acting scared of the water prior to the visits.  By the end of the first few days, he was acting like he never had any doubts about getting wet.  He is still very cautious about getting too deep - whether on the steps or while being held and walked to the deep end.  He doesn't really like getting his head wet, but is more willing to be held horizontally in the water and trying out swimming motions. 

I was warned that Erik would look like a giant after Elin was born.  I didn't really notice it when he visited Elin and I at the hospital, but almost as soon as I got him, I started to notice how big his hands were and how tall he was and how incredibly heavy he had gotten!  In addition to just appearing larger, Erik got a new haircut last week that is nearly a buzz cut and it makes him look so much older.  His vocabulary is also growing every day; he is a great mimicker and will repeat nearly everything that we say as well as our actions when we say things!  Very funny.  

The other new development for Erik started just this past week (July 7 or so) - he is interested in using the toilet.  So, every night before his bath, he insists on sitting on the potty.  No activity has occurred while on the potty, but I'm just pleased as punch that he is trying it out and that it was Erik's idea rather than us trying to coerce him to do it!  

Some new phrases that Erik has adopted recently:
1. "Where are you?"  - said in a singsong voice and he will put his hands on his cheeks as he walks through the house (trying to mirror us cupping our hands around our mouths) - he will call for both people and inanimate objects!
2. "Hmm.. Nope" (usually with a finger on his chin) - this phrase is used while searching for something.  So, he will go from room to room calling "where are you?" and then he'll look into each room and say, "Hmm, nope" if he doesn't see what he is looking for!
3. "There you go!" - this phrase is used once the object has been found or after someone has successfully done something that was asked of them (such as Kent completing one of Erik's puzzles)
4. "More videos, please" - Erik loves to watch episodes of Curious George and will beg to watch more episodes on our iPad.
5. "Stop it!" - He uses this for everything that he doesn't like.  He was taught this by both daycare and us in an attempt to get him to say what he wants or doesn't want rather than crying, but now I'm starting to hate hearing this phrase as Erik uses it ALL THE TIME!
6. "O-tay!" - I love this one!!
7. "Eri' do it/Eri' get it" - He is certainly beginning to assert his independence 
8. "Oh, heavy" - this is said with strong emphasis on "HEAVY" and he will want someone to acknowledge that yes, indeed, that item is heavy!
9. "Hold it. Hold baby" - He will ask to hold Elin with both arms outstretched and hands reaching for the baby.  He says this in a pleading tone.


While we had all the grandparents here for several weeks, my camera rarely made it off the shelf.  Both Granmum Johnson and Nana Chalker took so many pictures we were certain that Elin would see flash spots for months!  I hope that both Moms will send me all the pictures that they took so I can share them with you!  Here are a few pictures that I did manage to take over the past few weeks:

Tiny Baby Elin - putting her in the carseat is hard since the straps are nearly bigger than she is!

Cutie pie

Elin chatting with Mama after a bath

Erik eating birthday cake

Sleeping Beauty

Happy to be holding Baby Elin

Having fun with Pops in the pool!

Jun 17-23: Elin Kate Johnson has Arrived!!

Elin Kate Johnson

Our Baby Watch is over and our precious new baby girl has arrived!  Please allow me to introduce Elin Kate Johnson, born 6/20/13 at 1:51AM weighing 6 pounds 9 ounces and "standing" 21 inches tall!  (Elin is pronounced with a long "E": E-Lynn).  She has dark brown hair, blue eyes, long fingers & toes and looks very much like her older brother, Erik.  She is also following Erik's example in that she is rather alert and opens her eyes a good amount and she rarely fusses.  Both Erik & Elin cried initially upon delivery, but then went through the cleaning up, measuring and Vitamin K shots quietly.  I hope this is a sign of true temperament!

She arrived 3 days earlier than her due date, much to my relief!  Her delivery went super fast; she was born 2 hours and 20 minutes after we got to the hospital.  I had expected the epidural to slow down the labor as it did with Erik, but Elin had other ideas and nearly delivered herself!  I couldn't believe how fast this delivery actually went - it was over almost before I convinced myself that I was actually in labor. That's not to say it didn't hurt like mad - I was desperate for the epidural and sooo happy that I hadn't progressed beyond the "no epidural for you" limit!  According to the labor & delivery nurses, this has been a very busy month for the hospital with lots of crazy stories of Moms walking into the hospital in the pushing stage or Moms who ended up having their baby en-route to the hospital.  They blame all the storms that Central Florida has been having lately (something about the low barometric pressure affecting the uterus water)!!

Big brother, Erik, is thrilled with his baby sister and has actually paid more attention to her than I expected when he came by the hospital to see me and Elin.  He loves to hold "baby si'ter" and rubs his hands over her head and cheeks.  He also likes to give her kisses and hugs.  He really wants to hold her on his lap with no support from Kent or I.  He throws a fit when we take her off his lap and begs for her to be given back to him.

First time Erik sees Elin - just after this shot, he practically dive bombs into the bassinet!

A very happy Erik holding his baby sister!

Both sets of grandparents were on hand when we brought Elin home from the hospital on Saturday, June 22.  This baby girl is certainly getting the royal treatment for her first few weeks of life!  Elin and I are working on setting up our daily & nightly routines of eating and sleeping.  She is turning out to be a great nurser - we've had very few problems with latching on which is a huge relief to me.  She has her nights/days mixed up right now, but I hope to start shifting her long naps to the night in the next few days.

Here are a few pictures that were taken by the hospital photographer - love what they do now!

A baby yawn!

Snuggled in Daddy's hands

Pretty in pink

The turtle is a gift from Erik; he named it "Flower"!

How can you choose a favorite picture?!

Jun 2-Jun 16: Erik Photos & Baby Watch

It has been a hectic few weeks for us - and I feel like I always am saying that!  Thankfully, we are starting to finally feel ready for a new baby to join the family!  Which is a pretty good thing, since we are officially on Baby Watch based on my last doctor's appointment.

Today is Day #4 of our Baby Watch.  At my last appointment on Wednesday, I had an elevated blood pressure reading and the doctor was very, very concerned about it.  By the time I left the appointment, my blood pressure was back to my normal ranges, but I was also on bed rest!  I now get to visit the doctors every few days and they are ready to talk induction - if I want to go that route.  I spent Thursday and Friday on my couch, working desperately on my computer to get some projects done at work and trying not to freak out at every little twinge and movement the baby made.    My parents, who were scheduled to arrive on Monday, bumped up their trip and drove all night to get here at 4:30AM Sabbath morning.  Of course, since they have gotten here, the baby has completely calmed down.  I've spent a good portion of today walking around and doing physical work trying to get something started!    Please let Baby Girl come soon!!

I've got a mix of pictures to share this week - hope you enjoy them.  On some of the photos, we tried some color tinting options that were on Kent's phone - I think they look pretty cool!

Too cute not to share!

Testing some boundaries

Erik the Gymnast

He stole my phone and then pretended to take pictures!

Erik with some fancy frogs.  He has taken to carrying footballs around with him everywhere!

Trying on Daddy's hat

Another football and another hat.  I sense some brain-washing on Kent's part!!

38 1/2 weeks - the day I was put on bedrest

May 26 - June 1: Memorial Day

I may sound like a broken record, but this has been an exhausting week for us.  It was very nice to have a long weekend for Memorial Day, since both Kent and I wanted to work on our Baby Checklist.  I was able to take a day off work last week after the baby shower to spend time with Kirstin & her girls.  Kirstin actually helped me get through quite a few items on my list - all the baby laundry has been completed with clothes put away and most of Erik's stuff was moved from the nursery to his big boy room. With those chores out of the way, Kent and I were able to concentrate on actually finishing Erik's new room and officially moving him out of the nursery!!

Erik seems to love his new room; he hasn't had any issues of going into the nursery looking for his stuff.  Whenever we tell him to go to "Erik's room", he heads straight to his new room.  I think he really likes all the extra space that he has in the new room; he goes in there and spins in circles!  He also loves the blue La-Z-Boy that we moved in there as his rocking chair.  My fears that he wouldn't sleep well in the new room were, thankfully, mostly unfounded!!  He has been sleeping like a champ every night - in fact, he has actually been sleeping later in the morning which is just lovely on the weekends!  His day-time naps have been more hit-or-miss, but the extra time at night makes up for it!!  I will try to post some pictures of his new room soon.

Kent's work had its annual convention this week and he had to give a presentation on Friday.  In addition to the annual convention, Kent also had his regular board meeting presentation earlier in the week.  Getting ready for those presentations meant that he had some late nights and/or early mornings.  Thankfully, he did an excellent job on his presentations as I learned from a few co-workers who attended the various meetings!  By week's end, I'm not sure who was more exhausted between Kent & I!  I can tell you that Kent fell asleep on the couch on Friday night in the midst of a conversation, so I guess he wins this week.  :)

My pregnancy is fast approaching its end.  I've just finished week 36 and have entered the slow-moving phase.  I can't seem to do anything quickly and changing positions from sitting to standing, for example, must be done very cautiously and with one hand on a supportive surface!  I can still bend over and pick up Erik, but I run out of breath really fast.  Erik is getting better at walking with me & holding my hand instead of being carried, but this week he did run away from me in the parking lot at daycare which forced me to run after him.  I figure it is just easier to carry him rather than risk having to sprint after him to pull him out of the way of a car.

I don't have any pictures from this week, so I am attaching some pictures of Kent & Erik in the pool from last week.  Notice how Erik never lets go of his favorite football!!

May 17-25: It's Raining Baby Showers!

Wow - this has been a busy 2 weeks for us.  Starting on May 16, we had a houseful of company that arrived to attend the May 19 baby shower that was hosted by several of my wonderful friends.  The first to arrive were my friends from Maryland, Tom & Lauron Henkel.  My sister, Kirstin, and her 2 daughters arrived late on Friday night, May 17 and finally my Mom arrived on Sabbath afternoon, May 18.

The first of three showers was held on Friday, May 17.  This one was hosted by my office; it was a joint shower with a coworker of mine, Grenadette, who is due just 4 days before me!  Ironically enough, Gren and I were pregnant at the same in 2011 with our first babies and had a joint shower for that pregnancy as well!  Our sons also attend the same daycare and are in the same room together!  It is so nice to have a friend go through all these experiences at the same!  We forgot to take pictures at this shower until it was all over, so I've attached the only one we have.

Laura Kelly (due Sept), Me (due Jun 23) and Gren (due Jun 19)

The second shower was held on Sunday, May 19, at the home of our dear friend, Loretta Hauck.  This shower was hosted by Loretta, Heather Cochran, Lisa Deininger, Melody Huffman and Amy Zbaraschuk.  The decorations were lovely with butterflies, pom-poms and birdcages; it was a celebration of pink!!  There was also a candy bar (my favorite) and pink nail polish as shower favors!  I received all the baby bedding for the nursery at this shower, which I'm so excited about so that I can soon put some finishing touches on the nursery.  I made sure that I stood out completely at the shower by wearing a blue dress rather than finding something pink!  Oops - clearly, I've been focused on boy colors the past 2 years.  I'm going to have to start adding some girly colors back to closet!

Me and my Mom! 

Lisa D and me

"Chalker" girls - Kirstin, Kaeleigh, me & Baby Girl, Lauren & Mom

Katelyn & Karli Pettijohn - 2 of Erik's favorite people!

Loretta Hauck & Melody Huffman - they can't wait to get meet the newest Johnson!

Kirstin, me & Mom

The third and final shower was held on Friday morning, May 24.  This shower was hosted by Kent's office; they expressly requested that Erik attend the shower, so we brought him.  It made sitting and chatting with people a bit impossible, but it was fun to see him experience something new.  Kent totally set us up at this shower by requesting that it "not be embarrassing" - as you can imagine, his office was then honor-bound to make it as embarrassing as they could.  Kent had to play the Diaper Game, which is where you melt various candy bars in diapers and then make someone guess what candy bar it is.  The main point of the game is to get the new Dad or Mom to smell or taste the "poo" in the diaper.  Yuck!!  Kent and I also had to play charades and act out various words related to babies.  Sadly, neither of us was very good at this, so I'm pretty sure that everything we acted out looked exactly the same!!  And no, I won't be sharing any of those pictures!

Cake made by one of Kent's co-workers, Alanna

Erik kicked me out of my chair and then started to eat my breakfast!  Kent is working on the Diaper Game!!

Erik wearing a sticker that says "Awesome Big Brother"

Not sure what is happening here, but he's so cute, I had to post!

Erik had a great time with all the company here for the baby showers.  He loved playing with his cousins, Lauren & Kaeleigh, and would follow them around to see what they were doing.  We spent a lot of time in the pool and Erik is getting more and more willing to get into the water beyond just his toes!  He is a great mimic; he would carefully watch what his cousins would do and then would try his best to emulate them.  Both Lauren & Kaeleigh have done some gymnastics and they demonstrated how they could do handstands.  Erik was super cute when trying to imitate that - he would lay on his tummy, put his hands on the floor and then hold his legs up in the air behind himself!  Erik also loved playing "Git Her" - which is a game where Kent would hold Erik and then chase Lauren & Kaeleigh around the house, tickling them once he caught them.  Some days, Erik would announce "Git Her" in a loud voice with facial expression to match as soon as he woke up!!

Here are some of Erik's other most recent achievements:
 - He can consistently catch a ball (small or large) all by himself!
 - He has figured out that the 2nd step in our pool was shallow enough for him to stand on and spent a lot of time walking around all the alcoves with bench-seats.
 - He practiced kicking his feet in the water while being held (something he was never willing to do before!)
 - He is getting more vocal every day and stringing multiple words together

The week of baby showers ended with the Deiningers bringing supper over for us on Sabbath evening, May 25.  Lisa had been telling me about their favorite beach that several families would be going to on Sunday and that they always stopped at Red Robin on the way home from the beach for root beer floats.  Now, root beer floats just happen to be one of the few things that I crave with this pregnancy - just the thought is enough to make me feel a little crazy!  Lisa felt bad that I wouldn't get to enjoy root beer floats, so she offered to bring them to us!  We spent some time in the pool and then had a yummy supper of grillers, potato salad and watermelon, followed by delicious root beer floats!  Erik had a great time with Adam & Luke, who took turns pushing him around the house on his ride-on toys.  We may have found some potential future baby-sitters in those two!!   

Erik and Nana

Erik and I with Tom & Lauron Henkel (Erik had seen his fleece in a closet and insisted on wearing it)