Happy New Year

This year I did not take any pictures or send any Christmas Cards... So here is a New Year Letter in blog form for everyone. Maybe next year I will find some time to send actual cards and pictures. So here is a break down of our crazy year, the years just keep going by faster and faster.

January- We started the New Year in Coeur d'Alene with family, then headed to Cancun Mexico. It was such a fun trip to take since I had never been on any exotic vacations. It was supposed to be an incentive trip to work with a different company selling security systems. In the end we actually chose not to go with that company. We went to see chen chen itza (the Myan Ruins), It was a very neat place, although I would have loved to go inside or climb up the stairs of they pyramid. It might have been a little more interesting if we'd had an LDS tour guide, but it was still neat and fun buying stuff from the vendors inside it. We enjoyed a lot of free food and time on the Beach. EmmaLynn was a little frightened of the ocean water and the noise, but she had fun still. What a way to spend a January.

February- This was a fun adventure for us. I was called to be an enrichment councilor in the Relief Society Presidency... Little did I know this meant something like 2nd councilor. It was fun and I got to plan the Relief Society Birthday party in March. We didn't have a big turn out but it was still fun. I served with some really fun and sweet women. I miss our ward and friends in Florida very much.

March- We spent out side in the sun we tried to use our passes to the local theme park Busch Gardens. We took EmmaLynn there for her birthday along with our friends Sarah and Joe , we went and saw the animals and took her to a really cool performance they put on there in one of the theaters. She loved riding the rides and every time it was over she did not want to get off and wait in line again. The have a very large area for kids that includes the biggest tree house/jungle gym I have ever seen, and even a little water splash place. This was also the month we found out, much to our surprise, we were going to be expecting another baby come November.

April- Dan spent 2 weeks in California selling security systems for a different company to see if it would work out for us. EmmaLynn was able to spend a lot of time with our friends the Hodges while I was working during those 2 weeks. We had to make a decision of weather or not we were going to stay in Florida or move to California.

May- This was a crazy month. Dan came back from California to find he was not going to have his same job at work and he'd need to be placed else where. Work had been less than pleasant to me.. and with some prayer we felt that I needed to quit.. So our next option was... go to California. So we decided this is what we were going to do. Our plan was to leave the friday after Memorial Day. When we found out my mother had passed away on the 24th our plans to leave changed from the end of the week up to the next tuesday. It was a very sad day I spent crying and packing and when I stopped packing I was crying some more... hormones from pregnancy certainly didn't help. We stuffed everything we could fit in and on top of our car and headed to try and make it to California in time to catch a plane to Spokane for the funeral. It took us 3 long days to drive across the country, we got into california Friday at about 5:45 am, to sleep for an hour and get up to catch the plane to Spokane. Can I just say, I hope I never have to do that ever again. Not only was I running on no sleep and pregnant, but we also went to see my mom and dress her in her temple clothes for the burial. I was such a mess. I am very happy to had the opportunity to share with my older sisters such a bittersweet experience. Her spirit and body were no longer united, There we were with her body, but when I think about it now I could definitely feel her presence there with us. I think the hardest part was that I wasn't able to see her and talk to her once more before she was gone I had been away so long. There are so many things I wish I could ask her and talk to her about, that no one else could ever answer. The last thing I was able to do with her was read a book to her called "I am a mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson. It was nice to be able to have shared that with her at Christmas time. I miss her so much every day, I am comforted to know that she was such a strong spirit and person while here on earth and she had so much time to prepare for her mission beyond this life. I am sure she is working hard and teaching many people. I can't wait to be able to see her again with no disease and be able to spend time with her. I am grateful for all she taught us and I am also grateful for 6 wonderful sisters who are all my very best friends.

June- After the funeral I went back to California to see our new apartment. Dan was already there and selling security systems. We met some really awesome people in our ward there. I even started to go to a sewing class where I made a nightgown for EmmaLynn.. I wish I could have showed and shared that with my mom.

July- Dan was accepted into the Air Force. He just needed to wait for a job to come available. The end of the month we were not doing well and not able to pay bills or feed ourselves so we decided California was not the best place for us to have gone. So once again, we packed up everything we could in our car again and headed North to Idaho. Halfway we stopped at my Aunt Jenny and Uncle Ricks. We stayed the night and spend most of the next day visiting with my cousin Brooke and her kids and Aunt Jenny. We really enjoyed our time there and are thankful we got to visit. After that we headed to our the Annual Johnson Family Reunion in Sunbeam Idaho. We had so much fun there just like we do every time!!! We rafted, played games and hung out by the campfire. After that I was able to go with EmmaLynn back to my sister in laws, Jenny, house with her while her kids went up with Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. We had a good time. I am so lucky to have such awesome sister in laws.

August and September- This was just a time of looking for jobs and just trying to enjoy not having a job... I spent a bit of time with my sister. I sewed another dress for EmmaLynn, that was fun. These months were not so busy just kinda laid back.

October- Halloween, this was the first time EmmaLynn really started to understand what it was kinda about.. We spent time that month gearing her up for it by letting her watch the "spooky movies" as she called them. These consisted of Micky Mouse Clubhouse Halloween along with Dora, Winnie the Pooh, and Backyardagains Halloween. She just couldn't get enough of them! We went to a trunk or treat and took her actual trick or treating with her cousins Keeley and Jarrin. We had so much fun with it.

November- The highlight of this month was, of course, having our sweet little boy 1 week early. The last month working up to it seemed so long and so short at the same time. He is such a good baby.. I am not sure if it cause it's the 2nd time around and I know a bit better what I am doing.. but either way I am enjoying it. I find myself thinking " I think I could do this again...... In a very long time from now!!!"

December- The end of the year finally, We said goodbye to Dan and sent him off to Basic Traning in San Antonio... His expectations for what he would go through exceeded him. It was quite a shock but he is doing well and misses us just as much as we miss him. We can't wait to see him again in February. We had a most wonderful Christmas, despite missing Dan. I am so lucky to have such a great extended family to spend it with. The New Year brings another new baby boy to my side of the family and a new start in everything for our family. I hope you all have had a great year and hope the New Year will bring the great blessings and new adventures to you all. Happy New Year!!!

4 New posts below

Ok, So things have been super crazy and I haven't been updating my blog. So below are 4 new posts to catch up to where we are now. ENJOY

3 weeks old

I can't believe he is 3 weeks old already. He is such a handsome little man. EmmaLynn sits and talks to him a lot. She says the sweetest things. Most of the time she says " Oh, She's sooo cute mommy, I just love her" ( she hasn't quite got the he she thing down yet.)

Other times she will say " awe, she is my very best friend" I love how sweet she is. such a good big sister.

He just looks and listens to her talk and talk.

Military Life Starts

So military life has officially started. Dan Swore in on December 8th and left that day for Basic training in Texas at Lackland Air Force Base. It's been a little rough to be without him. It will be worth it in the long run. We should get to see him the beginning of February. I hope it goes by really fast. It's been a couple of weeks already.. It gets especially hard at night when the Ezyas won't go to sleep. I did get to talk to him sooner than normally allowed, cause he needed some papers faxed to them for pay. It was nice to have a few minutes. He is doing well, but it is a lot harder than he expected it to be. It was bittersweet to hear him say how he missed us and the first nights he cried, but now he just slept like a log now because he was so tired. The pictures below are of him where he swore in.

Dan with the Commander who swore him in.
Here he is waiting with the other guys for the commander waiting to swear in.

Baby Blessing

We decided to Bless Ezyas before Dan left for basic training. Here are some of the pictures.

This is how he likes to lay on me after he has eaten... He is just sooo yummy. Such a good baby too.

Ezyas Week 1

here are some of his first bath pictures. look at those skinny arms and legs... So different from what EmmaLynn was.

His first bath. He actually enjoyed the warm water... Till we took him out of course.
EmmaLynn holding him armed with a binky, or "Cranky" in her words... It was really cute cause she started laughing saying that it tickled her finger... So cute. It's one of the soothie binkies the only one we've been able to get him to take.

Birth story

Our story starts Tuesday when I had my last appointment. When I was checked I was dilated to a 3 and 50% effaced. This was about where I was with EmmaLynn the week before I delivered her. We talked about taking a magic pill that will induce labor, however, the midwife wanted me to be closer to my due date before taking it. I would have to wait till next Tuesday, and if I hadn't gone into labor by then, she'd give me the pill. I was a little disappointed, I would have taken it then and there, but I guess I could wait. I loaded up on the red raspberry leaf tea over the next few days. Wednesday I finished my car seat cover, and nothing much else happened. Thursday I spent the day getting everything ready. I rearranged the room, polished the cradle, set up the change table, and did all of our laundry. Finally I packed up the baby stuff into the bag to take to the birth center with us. After doing all that work, I started to have contractions, this was very exciting to me. They were about 20-30 minutes apart.. So I met up with Eleasha and added some homeopathic stuff to the red raspberry leaf tea. The contractions went for about 3 hours.. then stopped when I settled down for the night.

Friday was the day it started. I went and did my visiting teaching and when I got home I tried to call the midwife to see if I could get the pill that day, instead of waiting till tuesday. I wasn't able to get a hold of her so I put it off for a little while longer. I had some lunch before we went out to finish picking up those last things we'd need for birth. On our way out to the door, I looked at Dan and said... " maybe we should grab the baby birth bag just in case and get it in the car" So he took it out to the car... When I got to the car ready to get in that is when it happened... I told Dan " just a second... I think my water might have just broke." I went inside to see if I just needed to go to the bathroom and found I was right, it had broken. I couldn't believe it, I didn't need the pill after all.. I did it all by myself... I was so excited and so ready to have a baby.

I was supposed to go to the New Moon movie with my sister in law that night, and by the time 6 rolled around no contractions still, so I went to the movie. It was alright... the contractions still hadn't started when the movie was over just a few here and there so we hung out and had some pizza. Then i went to bed... contractions waking me every 30 minutes and getting closer.. so I had a lot of intermittent sleep. Finally at 5 am they were consistently 5 minutes apart. I woke Dan up and called the midwife and we headed to the birth center. At 6 am I was dilated to a 6 almost 7... I couldn't believe it, with EmmaLynn we were so much farther after so much time. Clearly this was a very different delivery than with EmmaLynn. By the time I got to a 9 I was sooooooo exhausted and hungry... I was in the water, and this only helped to relax me more and slow the contractions down.. I hit the 9 cm around 9 am.. but couldn't quite push past the 9 for several hours. Finally we decided the water was just slowing us down so, I got out and laid down and slept between the contractions that gave me the tiny bit of energy to speed the contractions back up and finally at 1:45 our little boy was born. I swear I heard him cry a little before his head was fully out and that gave me the last bit of energy I needed to push him out. Then once he was out... I just cried... I was so exhausted and tired I just wanted some food and sleep and to hold my baby.

I was so glad Eleasha was able to be there with me, she was such a great support to have there. She helped so much feeding me and giving me water and holding my head and just being there to help me and keep me positive. My midwife and her assistant were fantastic and super supportive, and Dan was great helping me to hold onto him to finally push the baby out at the end. Overall it was a long exhausting but incredibly exciting and happy day.

A NEW BABY BOY

We are so excited to have our new baby boy join our family. He is ever so sweet and quiet. He sleeps so well so far. He was born November 21st at 1:45 pm. He weighed in at 8 lbs and measured 21 and a half inches long. Here are some pictures of our adventure. I will post the story later.

EmmaLynn got to hold Ezyas today before she left for church. She was soooo excited. She loves her baby brother so much already.

Here he is in his going home outfit. What a cute little boy.
My midwife, Beth. She was so sweet and amazing helping me the whole day. I also had a great assistant Victoria, I have to get her picture from Eleasha.
measuring his head... He looks bruised, but the midwife said it was a circulation thing and it would clear up pretty quick. He already looks much better today.
Here he is getting weighed
Here he is today, still just sleeping away. Now I get to go get a nap in too..

Rock-a-Bye-Baby

This is what EmmaLynn did when I put the cradle together, she said " oh wait mom, I have to get the baby." she went and got the baby doll and put it in the cradle and began.....

Project Completion

So here are my finished products. I just finished the car seat cover today. Later on I might make another one and maybe think about trying to cover the top with something too. I think It turned out pretty well.

This is the cradle.. not on it's rocker thing.. I made cut the foam for the bumpers and mattress and then covered them. The great thing about brown is any other color will go with it... I am so excited. Now I am even more anxious to have this baby already and find out what I am having.

5 Years and still counting

Today, Dan and I celebrate our 5 year anniversary! We celebrated his birthday this week, and we always get to follow his birthday up with our anniversary. This year it fell on friday the13th, how fun. So earlier this week we went out to dinner at a small cafe in Hayden and went to a movie. It was very yummy food and the movie was alright too. Tonight we got a free ticket to the movies and Dan surprised me with a little bit of extra money he saved up so we could celebrate our anniversary too. So we went to Azteca and saw Couples Retreat. It was quite a good movie. We enjoyed the food and the time away together 2 times in one week. It was fun.

I can't believe we've been married for 5 years already, nor can I believe I am going to have a new baby in the next 2 weeks. Life seems so crazy. We've had a lot of crazy adventures in our married life, like moving all over the country, but they have been fun experiences and we've met some really awesome people everywhere we have been. I am so grateful for a husband who is more outgoing than I am, even though sometimes I wish he wasn't. He's so kind and loving and does his best to make sure I am happy and comfortable. I look forward to our next year together and the new adventures it will bring with a new baby and hopefully military life in another country.

Halloween fun

Here are pictures from our ward Halloween party, and from trick or treating. they are all kinda mixed up, I can never figure out how to get these in order. Oh well. Trick or treating was fun. First we went to the Silver Lake mall, then Trunk or Treating w/ my sister in law's ward. When we finished there we headed out with Eleasha and her kids trick or treating. EmmaLynn was totally loving that you got to run from door to door. She had a hard time keeping up with Keeley and Jarrin. It didn't discourage her though. She just kept saying " I gotta run super fast" and " look mom, I am running super fast" We got to a house that was decorated quite well and spooky. She looked up at me and said, " oh, it's a creepy house mom." She also got a little confused cause some people would let her grab it and others would hand it out. So she kept reaching in for the candy when they were trying to hand it to her. Keeley and Jarrin were trying to keep her in line. It was so funny. I wish I had a video camera for that. Hope everyone else had a great Halloween. Enjoy the pictures.

Above is the spooky dessert I made for the ward contest. I didn't win... and the decorating skills are not the greatest, but the desert was super yummy.
EmmaLynn at the trunk or treat
EmmaLynn at the ward halloween party
Trick or Treating at Grandma and Grandpa Johnsons
The Silver Lake mall with her friend Hunter.

The ward halloween costume contest. EmmaLynn won one of the prizes for best costume.
EmmaLynn and Christian standing on stage to have their costumes judged with all the other kids.

Silly EmmaLynn

I forgot I had taken these pictures. We had a movie night and EmmaLynn was sitting behind "Grammy" like she does to me sometimes... She was playing with her hair at first. Then the music came on at the end of the movie. My mother in law thought it was so funny. EmmaLynn had a blast too. Check out the video at the bottom of the post. Sorry the video is kinda dark. It's the best I have.

Free Nursing Covers

So, I was looking on craigslist for some baby stuff, and found someone had posted a promo code to get free nursing covers. You go to www.uddercovers.com and use the promo code " charm ". They are normally 32 dollars, all you end up paying is shipping. It works for the gift packages too, it takes 32 dollars off what ever order you make. So, if anyone is nursing or knows anyone going to have a baby and nurse, it is a great gift idea and really great deal all together. I don't know how long it is going on but check it out.

October Festivities

Today we went to Carver Farms to get pumpkins for decorating and got to go on a hay ride. It was a lot of fun. Here are some of our fun pictures we took .

EmmaLynn holding a corn stalk

Grammy and Grandpa Johnson with all the grandkids that live in Coeur d'Alene

In the corn husks with Daddy

EmmaLynn and Mommy on the hayride

EmmaLynn and Daddy on the hay ride with her gords she was using like drumsticks

EmmaLynn and Christian being silly (Christian kept telling EmmaLynn "welcome to my planet" it was quite entertaining)

The two of them have a great time together.

EmmaLynn and her pumpkin

She was so excited to go to the pumpkin patch the whole time we were driving there she kept saying "yay, the pumpkin patch"

She thought it would be fun to try and sit on the big mommy pumpkin

Christian would not let go of her hand the whole time we were looking for pumpkins.

Lastly from beginning of the month EmmaLynn decided she wanted to help us rake leaves. She thought it was so cool to play in them too.

October seems to be creeping by sometimes. I have to keep telling myself to be patient and keep myself busy and it will fly by. I have been working on a car seat cover and trying to get stuff for my cradle to get that all ready for baby.

We've also been trying to find a job for Dan till he goes into the Air Force. We've also been trying to sell our washer and dryer to get a little bit of money to get some bills paid. Neither has been very sucessful yet, so if you know anyone who needs a washer and dryer, we have one in great condition and ready to go. Hope everyone has a great Halloween.

Lots of Busy and a little fun

Well, we have been quite busy, and I haven't had much to really blog about. Over the last few weeks we decided to get rid of our storage unit, and are now storing things in the garage till it is time to move for the military. We're trying to sell our washer and dryer, we hardly used, and a few other things in hopes to make a little money and catch up on other bills. (if you know someone in need of a good washer and dryer we've got it) Also we have re-arranged a few things to make room for the new baby and hope it will do for a time, since I might not be able to join Dan for tech school.

The last couple of weeks EmmaLynn and I have been sick with some yucky colds, we're doing much better now. Although now everyone else around us is starting to get sick too. Now we are just trying to stay healthy. EmmaLynn had her 2 year check up also. We discovered she has her 2 year molars coming in, and she is short for her age 25th percentile. She in the 75th for her weight, and her head is in the 90th percentile. So she is short and solid and has a big head.

Here are some of our pictures from last week after we were done cleaning and re arranging things.

We decided to go to the Post Falls Damn. We walked around and hiked down to the river it was pretty, but it was extremely hard to get back up being pregnant and wearing stupid flip flops.
Dan took some of these pictures... he took some of us.. but those were not pretty pictures of me so I won't post them. Eventually I will post some that don't make me look humongous.

EmmaLynn found the measuring tape and it is her new favorite toy to play with.
She also decided she loves to climb on the couches edge and sit sometimes lay and watch TV... she does this quite often and even sits with her feet on either side of my shoulders and knocks my head back and forth between them.. She thinks it is super funny.

She is saying the funniest things all the time. I can't believe how big she is getting. Talking full sentences and all. Her newest thing is calling her terds monsters. Everything talks too.. blocks forks, spoons, watches anything she gets a hold of will have conversations. There is always a mommy and a "cute little baby" as she says. It is so fun to see her imagination. I have no idea where she gets it from though. It is definitely not from me.

I am now almost 32 weeks and hoping that October just flies by so we can be that much closer to a new baby. I am dying to know what we are having, but unfortunately my babies don't cooperate so I am forced into a surprise. Name picking is the hardest part about it all. I have a lot of projects I am going to start working on for the baby. A couple are a car seat cover to cover the car seat we used with EmmaLynn. ( I hate the whinnie the pooh stuff) The other will be sheets and bumpers for the cradle bed I have for the baby. I will try to post them up for everyone to see. They are going to be pretty plain for now but something I can make work for a boy or a girl. We shall see.

A Day on Boat

Last Saturday we didn't have any plans, so we decided to take the boat out for one last time on the water and have a picnic lunch. We loaded up Saturday morning and headed out to Priest Lake. It was absolutely beautiful. We took the boat and checked out some of the camp sites for next year and just boated around. It was lots of fun. EmmaLynn loved it. She sat with everyone and squealed and cheered with the wind blowing in her face. We had a great time. It was a very nice and somewhat relaxing day, besides the fact that getting in and out of the boat while pregnant is not the easiest thing. Here are some pictures of our adventure.