More Than Just Breastfeeding...sort of


Ailey was asked by her preschool teachers how her mom was doing and she replied with "Oh she's just breast feeding, breast feeding, breast feeding!!" (Apparently her teachers got quite a kick out of that.) Although it does feel like the majority of my time IS spent breast feeding we do occasionally get out and do a few things. Here's what our family has been up to lately:

1.) Nervous Nelly

Right now I'm a bit of a nervous overprotective mother. Reilly is at 6th grade camp for a few days. This is BIG. This is her first solo trip somewhere without the family. This requires me putting faith in other people to keep my child safe and even more putting my faith in Reilly that she will take the lessons that we have taught her and put them to good use while out on her own. I'm sure she is having a great time but I will be glad when she is back home on Friday!!

2.) Geocaching

We have been having a lot of fun geocaching lately. This lets us get out, enjoy the weather, do a little hiking and look for treasure. Plus...Kameron and Reilly have both gotten very good at working the GPS...a good life skill right?

This particular day not only did we find lots of hidden treasure but we also found a lot of ticks!! Ticks are so revolting. Ugh. Ailey had to have a field trip cancelled and another location found due to a huge tick infestation at the original spot and apparently there is a tick problem up where Reilly is at camp. Gag.

3.) The Trek

The kids' school had their yearly walk-a-thon/fun run called the Trek. They had a great time! Tyler took the kids. I stayed home with the baby and Ailey. Reilly and Kameron came home exhausted. Kameron ran 18 laps!!


Reilly and her friend Breanna (Do note how Reilly has jazzed up her Trek T-shirt...and yes...she has it tightened up in the back too.)

Kameron and his best buddy Jonathan

Reilly is a member of the ASB so she got to work a shift at the concession stand. Tyler snapped a picture to document Reilly ACTUALLY working. Miracle of Miracles...we needed photo proof. Around our house she does a lot of "acting like she is working"!! :)

4.) Trying to get a decent picture of Bryn smiling.

She is a smiley baby but stops the minute you try to get a picture.

Crazy picture but I love it!!

I think Bryn looks just like Tyler in this picture...if her hair was red and she had a little football tucked under her arm she would look just like Ty in one of his baby pictures.

At last we have some success...a little sly dog grin.

5.) Cleaning up the disaster of our yard that Crazy Ernie left in his wake.

Tyler did do something that I have been begging him to do for over 5 years...he removed the fence in our front yard. I hated that thing. Does anything spell white trash more than a chain linked fence in the front yard? I expect the Outsiders to rumble in front of it or Ponyboy jump it. Thankfully, it is finally gone!! Yahoo.

Rite of Passage



The summer after Reilly was born we drove up to the lake from Utah for our family vacation. After greeting my grandparents I turned and began walking on the path that led to the lake. "Where are you going?" my grandpa asked. I turned and met the eyes of my grandma who smiled and said "Are you going to introduce Reilly to the lake?" I smiled and nodded my head as my husband raised one eyebrow and followed me to the shore. I ceremoniously dipped Reilly's little chubby toes in the water and told her that this was the lake and that she belonged here.


When we walked back to the house my grandmother met us and asked "Well...how did she do?" "She did just fine" I replied. My grandma smiled and said "Well, of course she did." I again looked into my grandma's brown eyes and smiled. Nothing else needed to be said. No explanations were necessary for this original child of the lake. My grandma was born and raised on it's rocky shores. The gently lapping waves were her lullaby. To float around a dark lake in a canoe at night with just a radio, the moon, and millions stars for company, as her foot trailed in the gossamer water, was her greatest pleasure as a teen. Of course no explanations were necessary.

As the years have passed one by one my children have been introduced to the lake and participated in this important rite of passage. Mother's Day was Bryn's turn. What a wonderful day it was as I placed my new baby girl in my grandmother's fragile arms and these two old friends got reacquainted.


That afternoon I said "Grandma, I'm going to introduce Bryn to the lake today." "Oh are you?" my grandmother replied. "Let me know how she does" she said as a smile lit up her face and a twinkle came to her sightless eyes.

That evening after everyone else had gone home Tyler, Bryn and I made our way down to the water. We carefully removed her socks and rolled up her little pant legs and Tyler dangled her little tiny toes in the water. As the wind blew through the trees that remember my great-grandfather's name I heard the love of five generations whisper "Welcome to the family Little One."

On Our 14th Anniversary My True Love Gave To Me...

One crazy Ernie up in a tree!!

It never fails. Each year as our wedding anniversary rolls around something inevitably comes up that costs a lot of money and we end up having to spend money we would've liked to use for a trip or something fun on other "not so fun" items. It's now a running joke...in years past we've given each other tires, a transmission for the Suburban, a refrigerator, a washer etc. Suckeroo.

This year a big ponderosa pine tree bit the big one. I think the cause was the infamous pine beetle but who knows for sure. All we know is that it started dying last summer and was completely dead by Christmas. Due to the huge amounts of snow we have had and the extremely unpleasant estimates of what it would cost us to have the tree taken down (several thousands of dollars) we haven't had it done and have been living in fear of that monster crashing down in the freak wind storms so common up here and destroying our house or one of our neighbors houses. Needless to say we haven't won many brownie points with our neighbors...and have had to avoid the bank all together where "Two Tone Tony" (the most vocal of our neighbors) works and would constantly ask us when we were having that tree removed. We have come to despise that tree.

Ironically when we bought our house we were thrilled about being the owners of such a majestic pine tree. We gleefully told each other that it was by far the "biggest pine tree in the neighborhood" and weren't we so "lucky" to have it in our yard. As they say...Pride goeth before the fall...now you don't even want to know how many times we have cursed that sorry sucking tree and bemoaned our bad luck for having it in our yard and why did it have to be so @#$% BIG!!

Finally we got an estimate that was more in our budget and we jumped on it. But you get what you pay for and what we paid for is Ernie and his merry band of idiots. In their attempts to remove our tree which they termed as "the spookiest tree" they had ever seen they damaged our fence, destroyed our lawn and freaked out our neighbors who didn't take kindly to their Jed Clampett style truck, smashed up van (undoubtedly destroyed by a falling tree), and an decrepit bobcat belching toxic blue smoke that descended upon our street. Our neighbors ran (literally) to get their cars off the street as crazy Ernie drove that bobcat like a madman dumping 600 lb chunks of tree trunk into his jalopy. Today the job was finally finished and we were happy to bid them adieu.

Again for your viewing enjoyment...Ernie up in our completely deader than a doornail pine tree that is over 110 feet tall. He shimmed up the tree cutting off dead limbs with his chain saw as he climbed up. Here he is nearing the top.

What? You don't see Ernie? Here's a closer look...

This little tree removal project took over a week with multiple terse phone calls from Tyler to Ernie asking just where the heck he was and when might we expect him.

Finally the planets aligned just right for good ol' Ernie and he actually began doing the work of removing the tree but left this little phallic beauty in our yard for several days until he could return to do a "little" more work.

Pretty isn't it?

On Mother's Day morning they arrived to remove a bit more of the tree, scouted around our house and helped themselves to our rakes, shovels, and recycling box (which they dumped the contents out of onto our drive way and left) to scoop up the debris. Yes, they were quite the professional outfit...excuse me... "urban loggers".

Thank goodness we were on our way to the lake and didn't stay to watch Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (Ernie's helpers) narrowly avoid death as they scampered out of the way as Ernie dropped limbs, cut things up with the chain saw, and dropped huge chunks of trunk right by them. It was terrifying enough the day of most of the tree removal. No hard hats, no safety goggles, just two goons who didn't have sense enough to move out of the way until Ernie would yell at them from high up in the tree. One guy nearly got creamed. It was much better not to watch and to just hope and pray that our house would still be standing when we returned. It was...barely.

The end result

But on a high note...we had a great anniversary. It was a true love fest...with sushi that is...poor Tyler...that famous 6 week check has yet to roll around. But the sushi was fabulous especially after months of not being able to eat it. For all you locals there is a great new restaurant on Grand!!

Happy 14th Anniversary to Us!!

Could You Blog If This Face Was Looking At You?

Well...neither can I!! I just can't seem to find the time when there is this face to kiss all day long.

Plus...very little of what I have to say makes sense anyway. Perhaps I should change the title of my blog to "Random Musings From the Addled Brain of the Mother of a Newborn". So what's new with me?

1.) C-Sections and I don't get along.

Who knew how long the recuperation time would take? I am not used to this!! Thank goodness I can drive again, I'm off the painkillers that were causing me to be a psycho narcoleptic (much to the amusement of my family), and BIG NEWS....I can carry the baby in the car seat!! Yehaw!!

2.) The Baby Blues have subsided.

Finally!! I was freaking out the kids with my weepy/needy self. The baby blues were exacerbated by gloomy weather, not being able to leave home, and long post-baby recuperation. Thank goodness for my family who took me out for long drives, bought me hot chocolate...the good stuff from the coffee shop, and lots of gossip magazines.

3.) I hate pads. Does the inventor of the tampon get enough credit for that miraculous invention? I don't think so. I despise pads and haven't used one except for postpartum since 7th grade Algebra with Mr. Jacobson. I had lots of problems with tardiness...ergo...after a few detentions I decided to skip going to my locker between a few classes. This particular day I stuffed a pad into my algebra folder and forgot about it. As I whipped that folder out in class to dig for my homework that maxi-pad flew right onto the desk of Jr. High hottie Teddy Bolton. Who disgustedly picked it up with thumb and forefinger and flung it back onto my desk. Oh the mortification!! That was the last of pads for me.

4.) People who bring dinner, treats, and drive your kids to and from school whilst you are a crying mess and drugged out on painkillers are the best kind of people.

5.) Sisters who calming and with a straight face ask you if you have ever felt like hurting yourself or your baby...due to your hysterical crying for no apparent reason...really do love their nieces and nephews. BTW: The answer was no!! There was just a lot of crying over crappy weather. Would it kill the sun to shine more than one day around here??

6.) Husbands who make calls to your friends to set up carpooling because people who are nice to you on the phone also make you cry... are the best!!

7.) Sisters who come over to keep you company with their newborn and make you laugh are the best!!

Elle and Bryn...Bryn's screaming and it has no effect on Elle!!

8.) Daughters who are little mommies in training are so cute to watch!!

9.) Not to mention big brothers who have the magical soothing touch!!

10.) Who knew how much joy a baby could bring to our house?

The good news is that things are getting back to normal around here...and they couldn't be better!!

New Pictures of Bryn

Here are some new pictures of Bryn.

Enjoy!

CLICK ME

We're Home


We are finally back home after what felt like a LONG stay at the hospital. It was only three days but it felt like forever. We got to come home yesterday afternoon. Bryn and I are both doing fine.

Here are a few pictures from our memorable stay:

Bryn and Elle's Birthday Party

We had a birthday party in my hospital room complete with cake and champagne toasts...sparkling grape juice for us...for the new baby girls. It was fun and so nice to be able to celebrate the safe arrival of these two cute girls.

Elle and Bryn

Dane, Kelley, John, Elle, River, Stacey and Bryn

John, Bryn, Ailey, River, Dane and Kameron

Ailey, John, Stacey, Bryn, Reilly, Tyler and Kameron

Notice anything different about Tyler? He shaved off his goatee so as not to mare with a rash Bryn's baby skin due to lots of kisses...but in so doing he has completely traumatized his wife and children. You wear a goatee for 14 years and people get used to it!! Needless to say he is growing it back asap.

Leaving the hospital:

Welcome Home Bryn!! We love you!!

Our Baby Girl has Arrived!

Bryn Kaitrin Johnson was born Friday, April 10 at 7:47am.
She was 9 lbs 6 oz and 21 1/2" inches long.

Mommy and baby are doing great and hope to be home soon.

Light at the End of the Tunnel


Three Days!! And then...I check into the hospital on Friday morning at 5:30 am to have this baby!! Hallelujah. This feels like the longest pregnancy in the world. I am still scheduled for a c-section. She is still breech. And...I am ENORMOUS!! I have gone into seclusion because truly no one needs to see it...yet every time I stupidly venture out I run into people I know who like to exclaim "You're HUGE!!" :o Really? You're kidding me? Is it my skin tight maternity clothes that give it away?!? Anyway...three more days.

We are all ready to welcome this little girl. Everything is purchased, washed, and put away just waiting for her arrival. The kids are really excited especially Ailey. It will be fun to see Ailey as a "big sister". My mom arrives the day after tomorrow to stay with the kids and to help us out. It's been fun having my mom here for Kelley and then having her come back for me...plus Stacey is here for a few days helping Kelley so there has been a lot of "girl time" and that is making the time go by a little bit quicker for me. My niece, Elle, continues to thrive. She is so cute and sweet. She has been getting us all excited for our baby!! It is going to be fun to see those two little girls together.

Here are a few things that I have neglected to post about and yet were quite monumental to my kids:

1.) Kameron's First Pinewood Derby

These two had a great time working on this car together. It didn't win any races...but it didn't do too badly either...but it looked SUPER COOL and isn't that all that matters? ;)

Also-- Kirk and Jayme sent Kameron a fun surprise in the mail. Check this out...it's a bed tent...and a scout one at that!!

Kameron LOVES it!! He is in it all the time...reading, playing, refusing to let his sisters in. It has also made bedtime a lot easier as he happily goes to bed now. So thanks Kirk and Jayme!! What a fun uncle and aunt you guys are!!

2.) Reilly's Honor Choir

Reilly was one of four 6th grade students selected by her music teacher to represent her school in an All-City 6th Grade Honor Choir. She had to learn 7 different songs on her own, attend several rehearsals, and then had a big performance. She loved it!! She loved getting to know kids from other schools and reconnecting with old friends from her previous school. It's gotten her quite excited for middle school next year.

They sang all different styles of music. Here is a bit of the "ragtime" piece they did:



I do hope you enjoy my stellar photography skills. Are you sea sick yet? Reilly is on the back row in a yellow T-shirt right next to a girl in a blue T-shirt.

Reilly also got to participate in an Israeli Folk Dance. I'm so glad she's had 9 years of dance training. Doesn't it show in her enthusiasm? I guess Israeli folk dances aren't her cup of tea. I was hoping for a little more RAZZMATAZZ!! But I did "enjoy" the fact once out of sight of me she jauntily cinched up and knotted her t-shirt to make it tighter. Oh dear. She might be excited for middle school but I am not!!



Now I have some windows to wash as the sun has finally made an appearance after about 6 months and they are disgustingly dirty. And...everyone knows you cannot bring a baby home to a house with dirty windows!!

Speaking of the sun...Ailey was hilarious the other day...another rare day when the sun was out. This is what she said as we were driving in the car:

Ailey: Hey Mom?

Me: What?

Ailey: The sun is doing something weird.

Me: Yeah I know...it's actually shining.

Ailey: Yeah...THAT'S IT!!

Good News


My cute niece Elle was able to come home from the hospital at the same time as Kelley. After a little stay in the NICU the doctors decided that her heart condition was not serious and that it should heal on it's own and not require surgery. We were all thrilled and so grateful. Elle does go back in for a check-up with the cardiologist in a few weeks but she is doing just great.


Elle is such a good and sweet baby. She rarely makes a peep and when she does it is the most delicate and dainty cry. She is such a cuddly little thing and it's all I can do not to hang out at Kelley's every day just to snuggle with her. She is helping me pass the time until her cousin arrives!!


I have a doctor's appt. today with an ultrasound to check amniotic fluid levels...which were a little low last time...and to see if she is still breech...which I'm sure she is. April 10th can't arrive soon enough!!