A Beautiful Fall Day

We enjoyed a beautiful fall day this morning and took a walk along the Animas River to feed the ducks. The colors were amazing.

Halloween Preparation

Sarah loves to say "hi" to the pumpkins on a daily basis....carving courtesy of Kirk. We went ahead and carved pumpkins early since we plan/hope and have everything crossed that we make it to Phoenix for the holiday weekend.

The Final Installment

We are in the midst of a project called "The Johnson Clan Family Expansion - The Final Installment". And yes, as asked by a friend in AK, this is our final answer. So far everything is on schedule, on budget.

We are expecting bambino number 2 at the end of April 2010. As with Sarah, this one will be delivered by c-section since I’m not made to deliver babies the ol'fashion way. So we will have a firmer date as the time approaches. We are very excited along with being naturally apprehensive about the new addition. A wild toddler and infant mix should make for a good time.

All has progressed well to date (I’m at 12 weeks) with the exception of the entire month of September and lingering bits into the month of October. The couch or bed along with constant snacking and Ginger Ale are my new best friends. This is why I didn’t make the trip to Anchorage after the Labor Day holiday much to my dismay. But I do hope to make it up before the baby is born or else it could be a while. I’m surprised how quickly the pooch popped out with this one but I guess that is common with subsequent pregnancies. I’m still in my regular clothing (shirts) but I had to break out my ‘fat pants’ for the time being and am now eyeing my maternity pants more and more.

I have my 13 week appointment next Tuesday. During that appointment we elected to complete a non-invasive screening of the baby to determine the probability of him/her having Downs, given I’m at the ripe old age of 35. The screening will allow for a better determination as to whether more invasive testing (i.e., amniocentesis) is recommended. No matter the outcome, the information we gain is just information that may help us better prepare but would never change the way we feel about our little blessing.

I’m glad the news is out especially at work. I can stop wearing my fleece jacket and hiding in my office or stand at a sucked in gut salute if someone walked by. I’m also glad to be pregnant this time around in Farmington rather than Anchorage, since spring babies seem to be our thing. The weather will allow for more outdoor activities through the winter months without constant fear of falling on ice, etc. Now I just need to get my prego bootie back in the gym which I’ve neglected for the past two months for reasons already provided.

Fun with the Family

We enjoyed a 4-day weekend visit with my folks who drove in from Denver. We mostly stayed near the house, enjoyed trips to the park and shouted at the TV during the Broncos/Patriots game (Go Broncos!). We took a short trip to Durango on Saturday to shop along Main St., have lunch at one of our favorites (Steamworks Brewery) and took advantage of the great pumpkin displays for photo ops. We did the Great Pumpkin Patch Express last year but decided this year we would try the Polar Express.

We are excited for our next opportunity to visit with my folks….maybe during the holidays?

Sarah hanging with Grandma and Grandpa.
It's the Great Pumpkin!

Taos

We went to Taos over the Labor Day weekend and caught up with Kirk's parents along with co-worker friends and their kids. Six adults and three kids sharing a vacation rental = good fun (with a mild sarcastic undertone). The good fun was in abundance because Sarah was battling a cold as well as I mid way through so patience was running thin, tears easily flowed and those who weren't used to sickly toddlers seemed a tad bit irritated at times during the crying fits. ha! But the house was nice and Taos proved to be as advertised - very artsy fartsy, hippy and extremely liberal. The artsy fartsy bit meant that shopping turned into window shopping for us given the small trinkets and other touristy chotskies in easy reach making it a challenge for a 2.5 year old and their uncontrolled need to touch everything. We even got kicked out of one store after Sarah picked up these little furry critter things which apparently irritated the store clerk a bit too much. All in all the shopping was similar to downtown Anchorage with the same ol'junk in every single store and hopefully made in Alaska (or New Mexico for that matter) but we found several "authentic" items authentically made in China. We did find a kid only place called Twirl which Sarah and the other two girls enjoyed. Kirk, his dad and our co-worker friend made it to the streams to fish for two days in the New Mexico sun. They had a great time both days.

Sarah chasing the local bunny population around the vacation rental.

Very happy with fish in hand.

Sarah enjoying the play yard at Twirl with one slightly chapped upper lip from the nasal drainage.

On the tail end of the trip, it became evident that the cooties that took over my body were not going to allow me to make my much anticipated mommy only trip to Anchorage to visit friends after the Labor Day weekend. sniff, sniff So, I had to postpone the trip with high hopes to make it back to the Last Frontier in November. Fingers and toes are double crossed!

OMG this is scary

I received this video from a friend in Alaska and felt I needed to share. It's frightening to see who has been elected to represent the people of this nation. (side note - I had to chuckle at the lady in the background towards the end of the clip covering her mouth so no one could see her laughing at the woman speaking)

Tis the Season

Tis the season in the San Juan basin to start preparations for the fall and winter months. First off, go to the local farm and purchase a bushel of fire roasted green chilies. Yum!! We went to Sutherland Farm in Aztec outside of Farmington to load up. Sarah was able to visit with the farm critters as well.It's also time to take advantage of pre-season sales including Gymboree where I picked up Sarah's purple fairy costume for this year. The plan is to spend Halloween in Phoenix with family pillaging the neighborhood for sugar treats. When the costume arrived, Sarah had to put in on and it stayed on through the afternoon. Too cute!