I'm Back...

Its been a couple months since I've written so this will be a bit long.

December & Kaylee's Birth

Lets start with December.  On Wednesday, December 11th we went in for my doctors appointment and were told by my doctor that he highly doubted I would make it through to the next week, in fact he figured I wouldn't even make it to the weekend .  We scheduled an appointment anyways because, well, we played this same game with Luke.  We came back to the office and went about our uneventful day.  When we got home that night I had a feeling I needed to finish packing our bags.

Thursday also came and went with out anything...even with me bouncing on the exercise ball.  Friday was a different story.  I woke up having contractions that were around 20 minutes apart.  We debated even going to the office but they weren't getting any closer so we decided to go and if we had to close up shop early we could.   Around 3pm they got a little closer and we packed up anything that we didn't need out.  In the end we still closed at 5pm.  We went home, had dinner and I started pacing because I was in so much pain from the nerves being pinched in my rib cage.  Around 7:30 my contractions dropped below 5 minute apart and yet, I had a feeling it wasn't time.  After 45 minutes the feeling hit, WE NEED TO GO.   We loaded everyone and everything into the truck and headed to Aberdeen.

When we got to the hospital the main entrance was close since it was after 8pm so we had to go through the ER.  We loaded some of our bags on the wheelchair with me and Alex went to get the rest and move the Jeep into a parking spot.  Luke was such a big boy as he walked beside the wheelchair holding my hand as the nurse pushed me upstairs.  It took a little convincing to get him on the elevator but he did it and I was so proud of him.

They got me all set up in the room and started monitoring me to make sure I was having consistent contractions.  We paced the halls as a family for a while before they checked on me again...NO PROGRESS.  They even talked about sending me home but after talking to my doctor on the phone, he told them to give me the choice to stay and I'm grateful they did.  We walked the halls again and then they were so wonderful to bring a bed in for Luke and Alex.  Luke climbed up on the bed and passed out and that is when I relaxed and everything progressed quickly.

I told Alex that I thought my water broke so he grabbed my nurse, she tested me and ran out to call my doctor again.  He got there as soon as possible and with in 15 minutes, Kaylee arrived into this world.

Kaylee Elizabeth Johnson

December 14th, 1:47am

7lbs, 6oz & 18.5"

 Because of the fast delivery she was pretty bruised in the face.  You can still sometimes see it around her mouth if she gets mad.  She was so beautiful and I couldn't get enough of her.  On the other hand, they ended up having to put her on the warming table because she wasn't holding her temperature very well.  I slept a little but not much.  We were so blessed because they let us stay in the L&D room for a few hours so Alex could get some sleep since the recovery rooms don't have enough room for the big bed.

At 5am they got us up and got me a shower.  It felt so good to get cleaned up and then they moved us into a recovery room.  There was a little bed that was as long as a regular bed, but only as wide as a toddler bed...and Luke and Alex cuddled up together and went back to sleep.

We stayed at the hospital till Sunday morning just to make sure everything was alright and then we checked out.  My doctor said that each night he had been waiting for the call to come in and was shocked when it didn't Wednesday or Thursday.  He said that I was recovering well for as fast as things went.

 

Kaylee two weeks, Luke three years

Late December both of our families came up to visit and meet Kaylee.  It was hard to believe that she was already two weeks old at that point.  Alex got to give Kaylee her baby blessing in her cute little dress I made.

January

January wasn't real eventful.  I was elected as the secretary for the Westport South Beach Historical Society.  At first it was a feeling of nervousness and excitement but as the time has gone on, things have happened and I'm less and less excited about it.  

February

On Valentines day, I helped out down at the Valentines dinner for the museum.  It turned out great and we had nearly a full house of people.  We used it to bring in new members and it did okay.  

Towards the end of February, our new top for the jeep came in.  We've had a soft top that was currently seven years old.  It had done its job but with the variable (sometimes extreme) weather, it was starting to show its age.  This time around we got a hard top.  We had to go down to Portland to pick it up.  

We drove down to my parent's house and dropped off our stuff before heading into Portland.  We went down to Wilsonville and dropped some stuff off before coming back up to the church bookstore to pick some things up.  We took the kids on a drive around the temple.  Originally we'd planned to get out and walk around but we were running behind and there was a wedding party out taking pictures and I didn't want Luke ending up in the middle of them.  

Once we were done in Lake Oswego, we drove up to Portland where we picked the top up.  We knew it was going to be tall, we just didn't realize how tall it would be in the back of our little trailer.  

 The box itself stood 7.5' tall on top of the 12 to 18" from the trailer.  This made it MUCH taller than the Jeep (the red strap is taller than the top of the jeep).  Driving around was kind of scary since it was like a sail any time there was a gust of wind.  We were really worried about it catching a gust of wind and flipping the trailer.

After we picked it up, we went over to Cascade station where we met up with a dear friend at Ihop for dinner.  It was wonderful to see her again and she got to meet Kaylee for the first time.  Of course, her and Luke are best buddies.

Saturday we went out to my Grandma Hoffman's for lunch.  My great grandma Sanford was supposed to be there too but she came down with a cold so she's going to come visit us when she gets better.  I did get to see my Aunt Christine and her family.  Luke loves having my cousin Wyatt around to play with. 

Kaylee loved cuddling with her GGma. 

After all the guys helped to live the new hard top onto the jeep, my dad and Alex worked to adjust the frame so that it would fit and seal.  It looks great.

Uncle Josh bought Luke a really special REAL cowboy hat.  

He was excited to have a hat like Uncle Josh. 

The most exciting part of the trip for me was getting my new DSLR camera.  It has a learning curve coming from a little snap shot camera but its totally worth it.  I took the pictures below as I was playing with exposure and shutter speed.  

Its taken me a little bit to get the hang of what I'm doing but I've figured it out more with the help of my hubby. 

The Tuesday after we got home, Luke came down with a fever while we were at the office. I have never seen that kid want to take a nap as much as he did, in fact, he took two long naps.  He went to bed that night with a fever and woke up Wednesday morning as if he'd never been sick.  We spent Wednesday at the office but by Thursday he had a horrible head cold so Luke, Kaylee, and I stayed home for the next six days.  Taking care of a sick kid has its benefits and its downfalls.  The benefit was that my kid who doesn't hold still and doesn't cuddle much wanted nothing more than to cuddle.  I miss those days.  With two kids laying on me for two days straight, I ended up catching Luke's cold and didn't start feeling better till Tuesday evening.  Luke has also cleared up but now Kaylee is taking her turn, hopefully it won't last long for her.  Alex has some how managed to avoid it this time, at least I hope.  

Beyond that we're all doing well.  The business is still growing and we are doing better than we ever did down in Battle Ground.  I'm grateful that my husband had a dream and I feel blessed to have been a part of it and to have been able to support him along the way. 

I got news that I should be getting my job back, we're just waiting for the funding to come in and hopefully we will start teaching again after spring break.